Kemi Badenoch’s favourability ratings improve, with more Britons seeing her positively than ever before
- 26% of Britons have a favourable opinion of Kemi Badenoch, the highest recorded by YouGov to date
- 18% of Britons have a favourable opinion of Keir Starmer, his lowest to date as Labour leader
- 71% of Britons have an unfavourable opinion of Rachel Reeves, her highest so far
- Awareness of Zack Polanski continues to increase, with 23% now seeing him positively and 29% negatively
Keir Starmer favourability, December 2025
As he approaches a year-and-a-half in office, just one in six Britons (18%) have a favourable opinion of Keir Starmer, the lowest recorded by YouGov during his time as Labour leader. Four times as many Britons (72%) see the prime minister unfavourably.
This leaves Starmer with a net favourability score of -54, unchanged from last month, and leaving him in a similar territory to Boris Johnson on the day of his resignation as prime minister (-53) and Jeremy Corbyn during his lowest point as Labour leader in June 2019 (-55).
A majority of those who backed the Labour leader at the last election (53%) have an unfavourable opinion of Starmer, compared to 39% seeing him in a positive light. A negative view of the prime minister is shared by 64% of 2024 Lib Dem voters, 82% of Green voters, 89% of Conservatives and 96% of Reform UK voters.
Kemi Badenoch favourability, December 2025
Kemi Badenoch has had a reasonably successful month, with 26% of Britons now holding a favourable opinion of the Conservative leader, up five points since November and the highest yet recorded by YouGov.
Nonetheless, most Britons (52%) still hold an unfavourable opinion the opposition leader, a proportion largely unchanged since last month. This leaves Badenoch with a net favourability score in December of -26, an improvement of six points on November’s rating.
Badenoch’s healthier figures stem from an improvement in opinion among Conservative and Reform UK voters, with the proportions seeing her favourably up ten points and nine points respectively.
Attitudes towards Badenoch among Labour, Lib Dem and Green voters are largely unchanged since last month.
Nigel Farage favourability, December 2025
Opinion towards Nigel Farage has not moved significantly over the last month, with the 29% of Britons seeing the Reform UK leader favourably and the 64% seeing him unfavourably both within the margin of error of November’s figures.
This leaves Farage with a net favourability rating in December of -35.
Ed Davey favourability, December 2025
Attitudes towards Ed Davey have also not significantly shifted over the last month. Roughly a quarter of Britons (26%) have a positive opinion of the Lib Dem leader, relative to 36% seeing him negatively. This leaves Davey with a net score of -10, near identical to his November rating of -9.
Zack Polanski favourability, December 2025
Awareness of Zack Polanski continues to grow, with most Britons (52%) now holding an opinion on the Green party leader. This is a significant breakthrough for the Green Party: even during the general election campaign last year, no more than 30% of Britons gave an opinion either way towards Polanski’s predecessors Carla Denyer or Adrian Ramsay.
Nearly a quarter of the public (23%) now hold a favourable opinion of Polanski, compared to 20% last month, though these Britons are outnumbered by the 29% who see him unfavourably, an increase of seven points on November. This gives Polanski a net favourability score of -6.
Rachel Reeves favourability, December 2025
Following the delivery of her second budget at the end of last month, 71% of Britons now say they have an unfavourable opinion of Rachel Reeves, the highest recorded by YouGov to date. This is against just 12% seeing the chancellor in a positive light, unchanged from last month.
Reeves’ latest net rating of -59 is not just her lowest to date, but is a lower score than any chancellor during the nine years YouGov have been tracking favourability ratings.
Just over a quarter of 2024 Labour voters (27%) have a favourable opinion of Reeves, relative to a clear majority (56%) seeing the chancellor unfavourably.
Jeremy Corbyn favourability, December 2025
After months of speculation, Your Party will not have a party leader in the traditional sense, instead favouring a collective headed by non-MPs. When it comes to the party’s most high-profile figure, just 21% of Britons have a favourable opinion of Jeremy Corbyn, while 65% see him unfavourably.
While Corbyn’s December net favourability rating of -44 does not represent a statistically significant change from his November rating, it does show a marked negative shift from his rating of -31 in September, as well as being roughly identical to his final score as leader of the Labour Party in 2020 (-45).
Political favourability ratings, December 2025
With continued rumours about attempts to replace Keir Starmer, Andy Burnham is the most favourably viewed senior Labour figure of those polled, with 29% of Britons seeing him in a positive light, even if matched by an equal 29% who see the mayor of Greater Manchester unfavourably, creating a neutral net rating of 0.
But it is Wes Streeting and Angela Rayner who have been the focus of more recent rumours. Both though have a way to go with the public, with no more than a fifth of Britons seeing either Rayner (19%) or Streeting (15%) favourably.
Furthermore, Streeting’s December net favourability score -25 is the health secretary’s lowest to date, while Rayner’s latest rating of -38 represents virtually no change from the -40 recorded in the aftermath of her resignation in September.
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