Three quarters of Britons now see Keir Starmer unfavourably
Key takeaways
- Keir Starmer’s net favourability rating of -57 is his lowest to date and joint-lowest recorded by YouGov of any prime minister other than Liz Truss
- Kemi Badenoch’s favourability ratings are largely unchanged since December, with 25% seeing her favourably and 51% unfavourably
- Nigel Farage records his lowest net favourability rating (-37) since April last year
- Following his defection, there has been a sharp fall in favourability towards Robert Jenrick among Conservative voters
With nearly all politicians ending 2025 with clearly negative favourability ratings, many will have hoped that the new year could be the start of a new beginning.
Keir Starmer favourability, January 2026
Just one in six Britons (18%) have a favourable opinion of Keir Starmer, unchanged since last month, however a full three quarters (75%) now see the prime minister unfavourably, up three points since December and the highest figure for Starmer to date.
Combined, this gives Starmer a net favourability rating in January of -57, matching his predecessor Rishi Sunak’s lowest point in June 2024, with Liz Truss the only prime minister to have recorded a lower favourability score with YouGov.
A year-and-a-half since they elected him into office, just 39% of 2024 Labour voters see Starmer in a positive light, compared to 55% seeing him negatively.
Kemi Badenoch favourability, January 2026
By contrast, there are no New Year’s fireworks for opposition leader Kemi Badenoch’s ratings, which remain largely unchanged since last month. A quarter of Britons (25%) see the Conservative leader favourably, while roughly twice as many (51%) see her in a negative light, leaving her with an unmoved net rating of -26.
The 51% of the public seeing the Tory leader unfavourably is, however, the lowest proportion doing so since last March.
Nigel Farage favourability, January 2026
Nigel Farage’s ratings are also largely unchanged from last month, with 28% of the public seeing him positively and nearly two thirds (65%) negatively.
But while the Reform UK leader’s January net figure of -37 might not be statistically significantly different to December’s rating, it is part of a longer-term downward trend in opinion towards Farage, being his lowest score since April last year.
Ed Davey favourability, January 2026
Opinion towards Ed Davey is similarly stable compared to December, with both the 26% with a favourable opinion and 35% with an unfavourable opinion of him within the margin of error of last month’s figures. The Lib Dem leader’s net favourability rating in January is -9.
Zack Polanski favourability, January 2026
The growth in awareness of Zack Polanski since he was elected Green leader in September has seemingly stalled, with still only around half of Britons (47%) having a view on him either way.
One in five Britons (20%) have a positive opinion of Polanski, while 27% see him negatively, leaving the Green leader with a net favourability rating of -7, broadly unchanged from last month.
Robert Jenrick favourability, January 2026
Following his sacking last week, Robert Jenrick became the highest profile defection from the Conservatives to Reform UK so far.
Relative to our previous poll on Jenrick in October, favourability towards the former shadow justice secretary has fallen sharply among 2024 Conservative voters, with the proportion with a positive view of Jenrick now at 23%, down seven points, while the number seeing him unfavourably has nearly doubled from 21% to 39%.
By contrast, attitudes among Reform UK voters have not moved, with the 32% holding a favourable view of Jenrick and the 22% with an unfavourable view of the one-time Tory leadership contender both within the margin of error for October’s figures.
Altogether, this leaves just 11% of Britons with a favourable opinion of Jenrick, against 41% who see him in a negative light, giving him a net favourability rating of -30, down eleven points since October.
Among just those currently intending to vote Conservative, Jenrick is even less popular, with just 14% seeing him favourably, compared to 43% viewing the former Tory unfavourably. Views among current Reform UK voters do not differ substantively to 2024 Reform UK voters, with 35% seeing Jenrick positively and 26% negatively.
Political favourability ratings, January 2026
Attitudes towards Rachel Reeves remain in the same ballpark they’ve been in since November, with one in eight Britons (13%) having a positive opinion of the chancellor, relative to around seven in ten (69%) viewing her negatively, leaving a net rating of -56.
Reeves’ shadow Mel Stride does have a less bad net favourability rating (-15), but remains largely unknown, with 74% of Britons not having opinion of the shadow chancellor after 14 months in the position. Only 6% of the public have a favourable opinion of Stride.
Just 11% of the public have a favourable opinion of Shabana Mahmood, down three points since November, relative to 35% seeing the home secretary unfavourably. Mahmood’s net score of -24 is her lowest to date with YouGov.
Wes Streeting records a similar net favourability rating of -23, with 16% of Britons seeing the health secretary favourably and 39% holding a negative opinion of him, figures largely unchanged from December.
Interested in taking YouGov surveys? How do you feel about Robert Jenrick, Keir Starmer, Kemi Badenoch, and everybody else? Have your say, join the YouGov panel, and get paid to share your thoughts. Sign up here.
Interested in commissioning YouGov research? We connect in real-time with real people around the world to gather their thoughts, behaviours, and opinions, to ensure that our research data is powered by reality. Explore our survey services here.
Photo: Getty
