Sir Keir Starmer is “underwhelming” and “sparks little enthusiasm” among voters, new polling has found.
The Labour leader is seen as “bad” or “terrible” by more than a quarter of the British public, despite his party enjoying a commanding lead over the Conservatives.
The YouGov survey marking Sir Keir’s third anniversary in charge of the party also found that just one in five Britons think he is doing a “good” or “great” job.
A separate poll by Ipsos found that if Labour won the next general election, which must be called by the end of next year, Sir Keir would be the least popular head of an opposition party to secure a majority in modern history.
Ben Page, the head of Ipsos, said opposition leaders typically need a net satisfaction rating above zero to win an election, but its data shows Sir Keir’s rating as minus 20.
Hitting back at the findings, Sir Keir told The Times his focus has been on reviving the party he inherited from his predecessor Jeremy Corbyn. His first mission was “change, change, change”, which he said included decisions such as the removal of the Labour whip from Corbyn in 2020.
His second aim was “to expose the government as not fit to govern”, which he believes he has achieved. Sir Keir said he has ignored “voices from the sidelines” calling for him to “go further” and “set out a vision”.
“We’re now at the stage where we’re very clearly gunning for the finishing line,” he said. Sir Keir added that his current aim was to make “the positive case” for Labour ahead of the election.
His comments come as YouGov’s poll showed almost half of the British public believes he has done a bad job setting out Labour’s vision. While less than a third of those surveyed believed Sir Keir has done well setting out Labour’s stall.
YouGov polling has consistently shown Labour to be around 20 points clear of the Conservatives, with the most recent survey suggesting the party will win 46 per cent of the vote.
“One may have expected this to reflect well on the leadership ratings of Sir Keir,” the polling agency said, adding: “This is not the case.”
The most common response among Britons. when asked about Sir Keir’s performance. was that he has simply been “average”.
Sir Keir also “divides opinion” specifically among Labour voters, the poll showed. Last week’s decision to ban Mr Corbyn from standing as a Labour candidate at the next election was backed by the public but opposed by the party’s voters.
In an attempt on Monday to woo voters ahead of next month’s local elections, Sir Keir visited Burnley College as he continued to tout the party’s credentials for tackling antisocial behaviour.
Sir Keir accused the Conservatives of treating antisocial behaviour as “low level” and said Labour is “very much the party of law and order”.
He told broadcasters during a visit to East Lancashire: “The government sometimes likes to pretend that it doesn’t really exist or it doesn’t really impact on people. I profoundly disagree.”
Both main parties have put crime-fighting plans at the heart of their campaigns to snap up votes in the May elections.
