KEIR Starmer’s approval ratings have reached a record low as his government nears its 100th day in office, according to a new poll.
The Prime Minister has a net favourability rating of minus 26, with 52% of Britons disapproving of his leadership, according to pollsters Ipsos.
Labour will mark 100 days in office on Saturday but a damaging first few months have rocked the party despite winning a landslide majority at the election.
An attempted reset at the start of this week saw Starmer’s chief of staff Sue Gray ousted in favour of the PM’s right hand man Morgan McSweeney (below) as Downing Street struggled to contain a row over senior ministers hoovering up freebies from companies.
Labour’s net favourability ratings have gone from six points on taking office to minus 21 now.
And in an exercise where survey respondents are asked to give the Government a rating between 0 and 10, October’s score fell to 3.8 from 4.4 in September.
The party have also struggled with the controversy over the decision to scrap the Winter Fuel Payment for all but the poorest pensioners – with Scottish Labour recently blaming the policy for string of by-election losses.
READ MORE: Sue Gray's nations envoy role in doubt as she pulls out of major meeting
According to Ipsos, Labour’s popularity is falling faster among older people, with a negative swing of minus 18 points among those over 55 compared with minus 4.5 among 18 to 34-year-olds.
They are also losing the support of Labour voters, Ipsos’ Political Pulse opinion tracker found, with a negative swing of minus 10.5 points among those who voted for the party in July.
But in a development that will provide some comfort in No 10, Labour’s approval ratings are still better than the Tories’, with just 24% of people feeling favourable towards Rishi Sunak’s party.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves (above), due to unveil her first Budget at the end of the month, has also recorded a record-low favourability rating of minus 30, while 44% believe she is doing a bad job – the same figure recorded for Jeremy Hunt during his last days at the Treasury.
Keiran Pedley, director of politics at Ipsos, said: “These numbers make difficult reading for Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves, with both registering their worst favourability scores with Ipsos since taking on their respective positions.
“With six in 10 not confident in Labour’s long-term economic plan, the pressure is on for the coming Budget to land well, with Labour facing significant political risk if it doesn’t.”
The Ipsos poll was conducted between October 4 and 7 and surveyed 1133 UK adults.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel