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Sir Keir Starmer’s popularity has fallen to a record low as a majority of voters are disappointed by the Labour government’s actions so far, new polling shows.
As the prime minister marks 100 days in office on Saturday, a pair of damning polls show his approval rating plummeting and almost half of those who voted for Labour saying they feel let down.
It comes amid an ongoing reset in Downing Street as Sir Keir tries to seize back control of the political agenda. His first three months in government have been dominated by infighting among his top team that led to the depature of his top aide Sue Gray, an ongoing row about freebies and donations and opposition to the government’s decision to scrap winter fuel payments for millions of pensioners.
In a sign of how quickly the tide has turned against the government, the party has fallen from a net favourability rating of +6 after the general election to -21 now, pollster Ipsos said.
Sir Keir’s own favourability rating has fallen to -26, the worst it has been since he took over as Labour leader in 2020.
Asked to give the government a score out of 10, a sample of more than 1,000 voters scored it 3.8, down from 4.4 last month.
Ipsos politics director Keiran Pedley said the figures will “make difficult reading for Keir Starmer”. “With 6 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,” he added.
Meanwhile, a YouGov survey found four in 10 voters believe the country is in a worse state since the general election, with half of Labour voters now saying they feel let down.
Six in 10 disapprove of Sir Keir’s record so far, with just under a fifth saying they approve.
And, in a sign of voters’ apathy, more than a third (37 per cent) said they do not have high hopes for the rest of the government’s term, but are willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.
Ms Gray’s departure followed weeks of infighting, which began almost from the moment Labour won its historic election result, coupled with questions over gifts for the prime minister, Ms Gray and senior cabinet ministers, and fears the government has lost control of its own agenda.
Sir Keir has already attempted to reset the agenda three times with announcements about restricting gifts in the future and paying back some he received. Now he is being forced to reset his top team.
The latest polling followed a Techne survey for The Independent which showed support for Labour falling to 29 per cent down five points from the election and two points below last week.
Labour’s biggest problem appears to be with older voters with anger continuing to increase over the decision to cancel winter fuel payments for 10 million pensioners as the days get colder.
For the first time since the election, Labour trails the Tories in both the 55 to 64 age group category and the 65 and over category. In an even more concerning development, Starmer’s party now also trails Reform UK in both categories.
