Sir Keir Starmer’s plummeting approval rating is certain to be a massive worry for Labour strategists with little prospect of an improvement on the horizon, a pollster has said after the publication of a damning survey.
Ed Hodgson, UK Research Manager with More in Common, was speaking after research suggested the Prime Minister’s popularity has effectively fallen off a cliff since he came into No.10, with a net rating of -38, down an incredible 49 points since his post-election high.
The Labour leader’s cause has not been helped by the decision to begin means-testing the £300 winter fuel payment for pensioners, or the row over freebies accepted by himself and other senior figures including deputy PM Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves, preparing for today’s Budget.
Speaking on the BBC News Channel last night, Mr Hodsgon said of the survey of 11,000 British voters: “It really is quite unprecedented.
“This was a massive poll, more than we’ve ever seen in recent history, and the fall is really quite worrying reading for Starmer and Labour strategists.
“I would say part of it is a response likely caused by decisions made by the Labour Party in the last 100 days.
“But also we have to remember it is a sign of growing public mood which is very anti-politician, which makes it very hard to be a popular politician at the moment.
“It is worth remembering that back in July, when Keir Starmer won the election, he was one of the few popular politicians in the country, and that fall to a minus 38 approval rating really is unprecedented.”
He continued: “The sad truth is that the public are pretty impatient. In our polling, we see sort of a median voter gives Labour a year to make changes.
“The issue is, at the moment, two thirds of voters say that the new government just feels like more of the same, and they’re not seeing signs of this changes around the corner.”
Asked about the prospect of a reset, perhaps spearheaded by Ms Reeves today, Mr Hodgson continued: “It definitely doesn’t help that what most people have seen of the current government probably is just the winter fuel allowance, and if they’ve seen more, it was the freebie scandal.
“It’s a bad first impression to make with the public.
“There time to turn things around and the number one test that people have on the current government is an ability to reduce NHS waiting lists.
“So if progress is made, there people might start to buy into Labour’s argument that they can be judged on the delivery of their promises.
“But there is real scepticism from voters, and a real sort of lack of belief that these things will happen. So it’s a hard challenge for them to meet.”
More in Common’s poll, released to coincide with Labour’s first 100 days in office, found that people gave the new Government a rating of D minus.
The public were more than three times as likely to say the government had had a bad start (65%) than a good one (19%).
