Much has been made of Rishi Sunak’s plummeting popularity in the opinion polls – but Sir Keir Starmer should also be worried about how he is disliked by the public, senior politicians have warned.
Latest surveys from YouGov show that after a year as Prime Minister, Mr Sunak’s net favourability has slumped to an all-time low of -49 in the wake of the debacle over the Rwanda migration Bill.
His difficulties in managing a revolt from the Right of the Tory party has led some to speculate about his future in Downing Street.
But speaking on his Political Currency podcast, George Osborne pointed out: “Keir Starmer’s poll ratings have also been falling.”
The former Tory chancellor from 2010-16 said that even though it was better than Mr Sunak’s, he was “absolutely astonished” at Sir Keir’s low rating – adding: “Minus 22 percent for an opposition leader at this point is very low for one who wants to win an election.”
He pointed out that Tony Blair’s personal approval rating a year before the 1997 general election was 19 percent, while David Cameron’s net favourability was 16 percent a year before the 2010 election.
Mr Osborne added: “And those ratings are falling. They’re not getting better for Starmer.
“That is something that is not getting a lot of attention at the moment but, in Downing Street, they’ll be all eyes on those numbers.”
Mr Osborne’s podcast co-host Ed Balls, a former Cabinet minister and shadow chancellor, said Sir Keir’s numbers had lagged behind Labour’s over the past few years.
Mr Balls said: “In part that reflects the short time he’s been having to change the Labour Party but also the sort of lack of excitement about politics and the future at the moment in Britain.
“And that is a problem for the opposition because you want people to feel the kind of upbeat sense of the future that Tony Blair certainly managed to achieve in 1996-97.”
He also said the Labour leader’s support for Israel following Hamas’s October 7 terrorist attack and whipping opposition MPs to vote against a ceasefire motion in Parliament caused a loss of support.
However, he said the figures should “concern” the former director of public prosecutions.
“The trend in the number will also concern them because there’s quite a lot of evidence from other countries around the world of parties who lose leads in the run-up to general elections … part of the reason why that might happen is if the party leader is losing standing,” said Mr Balls.
Labour has a net favourability rating of -14, with the Conservatives on -53, according to latest YouGov polls.
