Disapproval for Sir Keir Starmer’s government is at a record high according to data in a new poll.
According to the poll conducted by YouGov, 62% of those surveyed said that they disapprove of the government’s record to date up from 32% in the weeks following Labour’s landslide success in July.
Such significant disapproval ratings so early into a premiership are almost unheard of, with Boris Johnson’s government sitting at just 44% six months after his general election win in 2019.
Government approval ratings are down from 29% in July to just 17%, capping off a difficult second half of the year for Starmer who has been blighted by ‘freebie-gate’, farmers protests, fury over the removal of the winter fuel allowance and the surge of Reform UK in his short time in number 10.
Outcry over policies such as the winter fuel allowance has seen Labour’s favourability fall sharply with older voters, with a staggering 82% of those surveyed over the age of 65 saying that they disapprove of the government’s performance to date – The highest figure recorded since the weekly tracker began in 2011.
The survey gets no better amongst Labour voters, with an eye-watering 39% of Labour voters saying that they disapprove of the government’s performance to date.
The Prime Minister has caused anger from his own side on several occasions and has been criticised publicly by trade unions and backbench MPs.
Early into the government’s tenure, the refusal to remove the two-child benefit cap saw Starmer faced with his first MP rebellion as seven MPs were suspended from the party for voting against the government.
The removal of the winter fuel payment, a measure introduced and celebrated by New Labour also saw Starmer faced with friendly fire whilst the decision earlier this month to reject the WASPI women’s fight for compensation saw Labour MPs turn on the Prime Minister on social media and in the Commons.
Across Europe and North America, the approval ratings of centre-left parties are in similar decline, with the poll serving the government with a reminder that Britain is no outlier.
In Germany and France, Olaf Scholz and Emmanuel Macron look set to be ousted from power by figures from the right whilst the same is set to happen in Canada as Justin Trudeau continues to flounder.
The election of Giorgia Meloni in Italy and the re-election of Donald Trump in the US mean that Starmer could be set to be the only centre-left leader at next year’s G7 meeting in Canada.
