Labour’s unpopularity has slumped further in the first days of 2025 as Sir Keir Starmer’s government is battered by the grooming gangs scandal.
The party finished 2024 with a historic low net approval of -45% after a steady decline in the opinion polls since its triumphant election win in July.
Controversial decisions, such as cutting the winter fuel allowance for most pensioners and removing the inheritance tax break for farmers, were blamed for the catastrophic slump.
But Labour has now sunk to new depths after a YouGov poll carried out between January 4 and 6 put its net approval at -47%.
Even four out of 10 of those who voted for Sir Keir’s party said they disapproved of the Government’s record, which also includes the betrayal of WASPI pensioners and the sell-off of the Chagos Islands.
The entrepreneur, who is now a key adviser to incoming US president Donald Trump, said the Prime Minister had failed to bring “rape gangs” to justice as director of public prosecutions from 2008-13.
Children were raped and abused by gangs of men while the authorities failed to protect them.
A review of the abuse in Oldham was released in 2022, but its terms of reference only covered 2011-14.
Details have emerged about abuse in Rotherham, in Telford, in Rochdale and in dozens of other places.
On Tuesday, Sir Keir defended his record of prosecuting child grooming gangs and said those “spreading misinformation are not interested in the victims”.
