While more likely to say Corbyn is principled or represents change than Starmer, virtually no Reform UK voters think either would be a good prime minister
Much has been made of Keir Starmer and Labour’s attempts to win over Reform UK voters in recent months, but could Jeremy Corbyn’s soon-to-be launched party prove to be a better draw for those currently flirting with Farage?
On paper, it’s perhaps not as strange as it sounds. Both Farage and Corbyn are considered populist leaders, with Farage himself even outlining similarities between the two, while allies of both leaders recently struggled to identity which of them had made various statements on an episode of Peston.
But a new YouGov study shows the reality: while there are some measures where Reform UK voters do give Corbyn a higher score than Starmer, this is merely relative, with them both disliked by a group who overwhelmingly prefer Nigel Farage.
Across all the attributes polled both Corbyn and Starmer perform poorly, with a majority of Reform voters giving a negative review of each, compared to no more than 19% doing so of Farage.
Nonetheless, there are some aspects where Corbyn is seen more positively than Starmer. For instance, three in ten current Reform UK voters (31%) would describe Corbyn as principled, compared to just 10% doing so of Starmer.
Reform UK supporters are also more likely to describe Corbyn as representing change (20% vs 7%) and more likely to say he understands people like them (11% vs 4%), though these numbers are fractions of the 95% describing Farage as representing change and the 87% who say he understands people like them.
Corbyn and Starmer score similarly among current Reform UK voters over whether they are intelligent (38-40%), hardworking (27-28%), trustworthy (8-10%), or would be good at representing the UK on the world stage (8-10%).
Who do Reform UK voters think would make the better prime minister: Starmer, Corbyn or Farage?
This lack of enthusiasm for Corbyn or Starmer among Reform UK voters can be seen even more starkly by placing them and Nigel Farage head-to-head in terms of who would make the best prime minister.
Whether it’s Starmer or Corbyn against Farage, nearly nine in ten current Reform UK voters (86%) choose Farage, with almost none (0-1%) favouring either the current or former Labour leader.
And when pitched against each other red-on-red, it’s hardly decisive, with 14% opting for Starmer and 10% choosing Corbyn as the better PM.
Indeed, just 2% of current Reform UK voters think that Corbyn would make a great or good prime minister, while around eight in ten (81%) think he would be a bad prime minister, including two thirds (68%) who describe his hypothetical premiership as ‘terrible’.
Starmer’s actual premiership gets even worse reviews, with more than nine in ten of either type of Reform UK voter (94%) saying he has been a poor or terrible prime minister so far, including 75% believing it has gone terribly.
By contrast, 84% of current Reform UK supporters believe that Farage would make a good or great prime minister, while just 2% think he would govern badly.
How do attitudes to the three leaders among Reform UK voters compare to the public as a whole?
Reform UK voters’ across the board preference for Farage is, perhaps unsurprisingly, not shared by the British public as a whole. Across the attributes polled, he only leads on one among all Britons – representing change – which 51% of Britons believe he does, compared to 39% saying so of Corbyn and 18% of Starmer.
Corbyn’s biggest selling point is his principles, with nearly half of the public (47%) identifying him as at least fairly principled, relative to 31-33% doing so of Farage or Starmer. The number of Britons who see Corbyn as trustworthy (32%) outnumbers those who would say the same of the prime minister (27%) or Reform UK leader (23%).
Starmer’s main advantage comes on representing the UK internationally, with 37% of Britons believing he does well at representing the country on the world stage, compared to 30% who believe Farage would and just 23% who feel Corbyn would. The prime minister is also a little more likely to be seen as intelligent (58%) than the other two leaders (52-54%).
But while 30% of Britons believe that either Corbyn or Farage understand people like them at least a fair amount, just 19% believe Starmer does.
See the full results here and here
What do you think about Nigel Farage, Jeremy Corbyn and Keir Starmer? What do you think about Corbyn’s new party in general, and everything else? Have your say, join the YouGov panel, and get paid to share your thoughts. Sign up here.
Photo: Getty
