Keir Starmer less popular among UK voters than Donald Trump
Keir Starmer is less popular among UK voters than Donald Trump, according to new polling.
The first of a new monthly Morning Wire/Freshwater Strategy poll found the Prime Minister had the lowest approval of all figures tested, with a majority of voters having an unfavourable view.
Starmer has the lowest net approval rating of -36 while the incoming US president Donald Trump scored -34.
Conservative party leader Kemi Badenoch secured a -7 rating, while Reform UK leader Nigel Farage came in on -12.
While Badenoch also leads Starmer as preferred Prime Minister among voters, by 38 per cent to 34 per cent – driven by support from Reform UK voters, with 61 per cent of the party’s backers selecting the Tory leader, compared to eight per cent who chose Starmer.
Dr Michael Turner, Director at Freshwater Strategy, said: “These results highlight the remarkable political era the UK finds itself in. They are something you might expect to see from a decade-old government, let alone one that’s just six months into the job.
“Keir Starmer’s approval really is very low for a Prime Minister sitting on a newly minted 174 seat majority. He’ll be hoping that the first impression is not the lasting one, as a whopping 58 per cent of British voters have an unfavourable view of him already.”
He added: “That is quite literally Trumpian-levels of disapproval given a similar proportion of UK voters have an unfavourable view of the President-elect.”
It comes as Morning Wire revealed 72 per cent of UK voters think the country is going in the “wrong direction”, including 53 per cent of those polled who voted for Labour last summer.
While 75 per cent of voters polled for Morning Wire also said they were not confident in the UK government’s plan to achieve economic growth, including 52 per cent of Labour’s 2024 voters.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves also scored low on popularity with voters, on -30, while the most popular political figures polled were King Charles on +27 and Jeremy Clarkson on +16.
Voters also tended to have an unfavourable view of billionaire tech entrepreneur and owner of X, formerly Twitter, owner, Elon Musk, rating him at -22.
Pollsters also found that since the election, Labour’s vote share is down by seven points, while the Tories have seen a five-point uplift – and Reform UK are up by eight points.
According to the Freshwater survey, if an election were held today, this would result in Labour being 39 seats short of a majority, likely having to form a coalition with the Liberal Democrats.
Researchers suggest Labour could win 287 seats – down by 125 – while the Tories could gain 101 seats giving them 222.
The Lib Dems, the poll found, could win 65, compared to Reform UK on 33, an increase of 28 seats, with the Greens on four and other parties securing 39.
Dr Turner stressed: “Current vote intentions put Starmer’s Labour firmly in hung parliament territory, with Labour likely having to do a deal with the Lib Dems to hold onto power.
“Around the world, inflation and economic deterioration have been government killers. With Kemi’s Conservatives and Farage’s Reform both seen as more likely to do a better job managing the economy than Labour, Starmer and Reeves will surely be in serious trouble if they cannot shift the dour British pessimism soon.”
The Labour Party has been contacted for comment.