Opinion towards Keir Starmer recovers following leadership crisis
Key takeaways
- Keir Starmer’s net favourability rating has increased 10 points since January to -47
- Labour voters are now split 46% to 46% in their opinion of the prime minister, having previously seen him unfavourably by 55% to 39%
- Andy Burnham, Angela Rayner and Ed Miliband have positive net ratings among Labour voters, while they tend to see Rachel Reeves and Shabana Mahmood unfavourably
- Kemi Badenoch’s February net favourability rating of -23 is her highest since November 2024
Keir Starmer favourability, February 2026
2026 has not got off to the easiest of starts for Keir Starmer, facing criticism from within Labour for blocking perceived leadership challenger Andy Burnham from standing in the upcoming Gorton and Denton by-election, and having faced calls to resign in the last week, including from Labour’s Scottish leader, over the decision to appoint Peter Mandelson as the UK’s ambassador to the US.
Despite this, Starmer’s standing with the public has improved. The proportion of Britons with a favourable view of the prime minister now stands at 22%, up four points since last month, while the number seeing the Labour leader unfavourably has fallen six points to 69%.
This leaves Starmer with a net favourability rating of -47, a ten point improvement on his January rating and the highest recorded by our tracker since last August.
Nonetheless, while Starmer’s ratings may have significantly strengthened in the last month, they are still low by the standards of previous prime ministers. Starmer’s current net rating is in a similar territory to Theresa May’s lowest point – just before she announced her resignation (-49) – and only slightly better than the -53 scores recorded by Rishi Sunak right before he lost the 2024 election and Boris Johnson on the day he resigned from Number 10.
Starmer’s rating is, however, still significantly above the -70 net score recorded by Liz Truss during her final days in power.
The improvement of opinion towards Keir Starmer is concentrated among 2024 Labour voters, who are now evenly split 46% to 46% in their views on the prime minister, having seen him unfavourably by a 16 point margin last month (55% vs 39%).
Kemi Badenoch favourability, February 2026
Kemi Badenoch’s February figures are within the margin of error of last month’s results, though the 27% with a favourable opinion of the Tory leader is the highest recorded by YouGov to date.
While half of Britons (50%) still see Badenoch in a negative light, her latest net favourability rating of -23 is her highest since November 2024.
Nigel Farage favourability, February 2026
Also largely unchanged from last month are Nigel Farage’s figures, with 27% of the public seeing him favourably and 64% unfavourably, leaving the Reform UK leader with net rating of -37.
Ed Davey favourability, February 2026
Ed Davey has similarly changed few minds since mid-January, with the 27% of Britons seeing the Lib Dem leader positively and 37% viewing him negatively both within the margin of error of last month’s ratings. Davey’s net favourability score in February is -10.
Zack Polanski favourability, February 2026
Zack Polanski’s favourability ratings likewise remain in a similar territory to recent months, with 22% of the public having a favourable opinion of the Green leader and 30% seeing him unfavourably, resulting in a net rating of -8.
Around half of Britons (48%) have no opinion on Polanski either way.
Other Labour figures’ favourability ratings, February 2026
Keir Starmer is not the only Labour figure whose popularity has been enhanced in recent weeks.
Andy Burnham emerges from the denial of his by-election candidacy with 35% of Britons seeing him in a favourable light, up six points since the last time we asked in December. A largely unchanged 30% see him unfavourably, leaving the Greater Manchester mayor with a rare positive net favourability rating of +5.
Angela Rayner is likewise on the up: 23% now see the former deputy prime minister favourably, up four points since December. While this is against 55% seeing her negatively, her February net score of -32 is up from -40 in the aftermath of her resignation last September.
Energy secretary Ed Miliband is seen similarly by the public, with 24% seeing the one-time Labour leader favourably and 54% viewing him unfavourably.
Other mooted challengers have captured the public imagination even less. Just 15% of Britons have a favourable opinion of health secretary Wes Streeting, while 43% hold an unfavourable view of him, up four points since last month.
A mere 12% have a positive opinion of home secretary Shabana Mahmood, with three times as many (36%) seeing the rising star of the Labour right negatively.
One in seven Britons (14%) see Rachel Reeves favourably and 68% see her unfavourably, leaving the chancellor with a net rating of -54.
How do Labour voters see Labour politicians, February 2026?
Andy Burnham is the only figure polled who is seen favourably by a majority of Labour voters, with those who backed the party in 2024 viewing the Manchester mayor positively by 55% to 15%. As with the wider public, Rayner and Miliband are seen near-identically, with nearly half of 2024 Labour voters (46-47%) seeing either favourably and 33% seeing them unfavourably.
By contrast, Labour voters see Reeves unfavourably by a margin of 50% to 30%, and Mahmood by 26% to 17%. Streeting proves more divisive among the party’s 2024 coalition, with 27% seeing him positively and 32% negatively.
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Photo: Getty
