Worryingly for Rishi Sunak, only a minority of his own voters, 43%, back a Sunak-led government when it comes to managing the economy. Starmer has transplanted many of Blairs favorite donor point-people into his close circle to build a powerhouse fundraising team. His internal opposition had largely given up and gone home, disgusted with the obvious distance he had put between himself and his predecessor, now not even a Labour MP. For many, he is also indelibly linked to other New Labour cash scandals, including a rowover a watered-down advertising banfor Formula 1 just after F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone gave millions to the party. The politics of selling it was always going to be a much tougher task. And in refusing to countenance any dissent from within Labour, or entertain any meaningful pluralism in its ranks - starkly illustrated by his approaches both to support for Nato and the monarchy - he has echoed not only the rights agenda but its authoritarian instinctstoo. He was previously Director of Public Prosecutions from 2008 to 2013.. Starmer was born in London and raised in Surrey, where he . They are also targeting the partys next conference in the autumn as the moment to set out more detail of their plans adding that Labour is making progress with important groups of voters. Labour extended its lead nationally to 27%, the widest margin it has held since Sunak became PM in October, while also opening up a lead of 28% in the Red Wall (another record lead . Approval for the government's handling of the pandemic is at its highest since mid-April last year, with 47% of adults happy and 33% disapproving. Johnson was comprehensively outmanoeuvred. But Starmers success - assuming it can be maintained - has come at an extraordinarily high political price. On policy delivery, the Government continues to struggle massively on the three key issues of the economy, the NHS, and immigration. Explore the live extension of our journalism, The wonk's survival guide to the EU Green Deal, Belarusian Nobel Peace Prize winner sentenced to 10 years in jail, Turkeys opposition splits over candidate to fight Erdoan, Germany to Switzerland: We want your tanks, Calculated evil: How Putins forces use war crimes and torture to erase Ukrainian identity, Let us film MPs as they vote, says outgoing Sky News chief, WhatsApp panic stalks Westminster after mass leak of private messages, Why always Matt? Different polling companies report widely differing figures on this question, but even Savanta ComRes, long the least favourable to Starmer, now has him two points ahead of Johnson when people are asked: Which of the following do you think would make the best prime minister? Starmer on 33 per cent and Johnson on 31 per cent are both eclipsed by dont know on 36 per cent, but politics is a game of relative advantage. In GB as a whole, the Governments net approval rating for its handling of these three issues now sits at -35% (down four points from late January), -49% (-7), and -39% (-3) respectively. Starmer is ahead in best PM polling. He has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Holborn and St Pancras since 2015. Latest news, analysis and comment on German politics and beyond. Nicola Sturgeons departure has disarmed the Scottish separatist threat for a while, though the union remains fragile in the longer term. The National Anthem will be sung at the start of the Labour Party conference next weekend, for the first time in recent memory (h/t @BBCBenWright), Saying Im not ideological, Starmer told BBC Breakfast over the summer: Weve reversed those 2019 manifesto positions because we needed to show the country that were credible, were responsible on the economy.. Latest news, analysis and comment on elections in Europe and beyond. Collapse. The survey by GB News, sees Labour on 47% of the national vote, the Conservative Party on 21%, the Liberal Democrats on 10%, the Greens on 7% and Reform on 6%. But worse, in colluding with the narrative of the Tories and establishment media, he has made a dirty word of socialism of any kind. , Bloomberg. Does Rishi Sunak deserve some kind of apology? In the aftermath of the Autumn Budget, I imagine these numbers will be a relief to Starmer and his team. Sorting the protocol was in that category, a sensible bit of ground-clearing and confidence-building. These polls asked the opinions of British voters, not specifically Scottish voters. The man who would be Prime Minister addressed St. Columb's politics students and students from the . Advocacy group the Labour Muslim Network (LMN . This, to me, points to a considerable reservoir of voter discontent with the available options on left and right.. Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in, The opinion polls have turned in the Labour leaders favour vindicating his strategic patience, Find your bookmarks in your Independent Premium section, under my profile. But dont underestimate this prime minister, either. In addition to leading a party with a commanding position in our voting intention polls, Starmer himself holds healthy approval ratings in all our tracker polls. Voices Keir Starmer can afford to be polite to Liz Truss for one key reason - he knows he is winning. On the proposal to reduce the threshold at which people pay the highest rate of tax from 150,000 to 125,140, the poll found that 50% of adults support this measure while 13% are opposed. More than six in ten (61%) of Rishi Sunaks voters support the measure, as do 57% of Labour voters, suggesting this policy will land well in the country as a whole. Public opinion. Having Tony introduce Keir at the next Labour conference? Why wont anyone tell me anything?. A government of which he was part had created the whole problem in the first place, of course, and one should never tire of saying so. Truss and her party have dealt him the easiest of hands, even if he continues to play it as cautiously as possible. At the same time, the Governments net competency rating is up in both the Red Wall and the Blue Wall, by three points to -35% in the Red Wall and by two points to -36% in the Blue Wall, respectively. The get together was reeling from its worst efficiency on the poll field since 1935, riven by inner divisions, below hearth over its report of tackling antisemitism and going through an seemingly unassailable Boris Johnson atop an 80-seat majority. But allow some credit where it is due to Sunak. He speaks candidly about his drinking since childhood and deliberately avoiding Keir Starmer, with the Labour leader yet to make a decision on his membership of the party. . Of course, the Conservative Party will take evasive action, up to and including changing leader, before the next election, but we can now see that Labours doom and gloom about Starmers anti-charisma and Johnsons Teflon qualities were overdone. politics . Log in to access content and manage your profile. Ipsos publishes the latest results of UK opinion polls and voting intention. UK opposition leader Keir Starmer will pledge that a Labour government would boost public purchases of local food as he seeks to appeal to country's embattled farmers. UK ; About ; For business . Boris Johnson's opinion poll lead over Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer as the "best prime minister" for the UK evaporated on Monday, as Downing Street tried to stop the fuel crisis descending . None of this means Sunak is suddenly the effective and successful leader that the Tory party has lacked for so long. Date(s) Meanwhile, Sunak continues to trail Keir Starmer in most of the country on the question of which would be the better Prime Minister at this moment. The Labour leader said he is glad the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) is taking time to consider . Starmers hope was that the public would eventually tire of the glaring cronyism and corruption of a ruling party that has been 12 years in power. While Starmer is seen as more austere, he has embraced the former PMs party financing strategy. The rail strikes are the biggest in decades. It also enjoys some electoral advantages over Labour. Most voters in Britain dont have Europe or Northern Ireland on their minds anyway. Starmer may scrape a win at the next general election, against an internally divided Conservative governing party only too obviously divorced from the concerns of much of the electorate. Sunak had to market a compromise not just to the DUP, but also to a Tory party in which too many had become intoxicated with their own dogmas which is exactly why Sunak lost to Truss last summer. February was another good month of polling for the Labour Party and Keir Starmer, who ended January holding a 21% lead over the Conservatives. Polls indicate the Tories still lag behind Labour in national opinion . Shadow Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds is known across the City of London as an affable and engaging MP with a real understanding of financial services. His job approval rating is bumping along at -26. Enough is Enough unequivocally denounces a heartless establishment that, it implies, includes Starmer himself. Blair and some of his allies were caricatured as never being happier than when rubbing shoulders with Britains rich and powerful. Angela Rayner, the Labour deputy leader, also suggested that Starmer looks too much like a lawyer in public appearances and should put some more welly into his speeches. If Blairites are now on the rise once again in the Labour Party, what about the man himself? Millionaires clearly want different policy priorities, but it matters to public opinion who is influencing the people who are supposed to be working in our interests?. Only England and Wales jurisdiction apply in all legal matters. He is not. In-depth reporting, data and actionable intelligence for policy professionals all in one place. Shadow Cabinet ministers have been urged to attend as many dinners with prospective donors as possible, with the leaders office sometimes pairing ministers with wealthy individuals. This is especially true for Labour voters, more than half of whom blame Truss (44%) or Sunak (10%) for the current crisis while only 11% blame global events. He was given a peerage by Blair in 1998 and acted as an unofficial adviser to the former PM through his 10-year reign. Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer is trailing Boris Johnson as the British public's preferred prime minister by 17 percentage points, according to a new poll. . Opinion polls show Labour with an average 8% lead over the Conservatives. Hopes for that encounter had been high following the confidence vote held by Tory MPs over Johnsons leadership, a move that left the prime minister deeply wounded with 148 voting against him. Even some Tory rebels were baffled by Starmers performance, saying it had helped Johnson regain some stability after the confidence vote. Some of the more detailed polling questions, which have given Johnson the benefit of the doubt all year, have also turned. Andrew Fisher, Corbyns former director of policy, said Starmers preference for private donations may backfire. However, many within Labours ranks found Starmers performance to be flat and criticised his line of questioning. Cubus Follow. On the eve of his big speech, Keir Starmer showed his frustration at being constantly compared with two of his predecessors - Jeremy Corbyn and Tony Blair - and declined to say to which of them he was closer. Speaking alongside Blair-era Minister Peter Mandelson at a business roundtable in late January, Starmer said he wanted to extract as much as I can from you, have a really grown-up conversation, and also for you to see that it is possible to mold, have your fingerprints on what were doing, two people presenttold POLITICO. The Labour leader is rated better on dealing with the cost of living than both Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss. Labour leader Keir Starmer has demanded the Covid inquiry release findings by the end of the year amid fresh criticism of former Health Secretary . Latest news, analysis and comment on defense in Europe and beyond. The findings which show the Liberal Democrats on 11 per cent, the Greens on 5 per cent and Reform UK on 3 per cent suggest Sir Keir is currently on course to become Prime Minister at the next general election and may win a Commons majority. Left-wing Labour MP Diane Abbott said Starmer seems to be reverting to the worst practices of New Labour., What business will want, because theyre giving us all this money, is theyll want results, she said. I want our volunteers and staff to have the best pamphlets and resources and information possible, they said. 'A poll the other day had . LONDON (Reuters) -Keir Starmer, the leader of Britain's opposition Labour Party, has picked as his new chief of staff Sue Gray, a government official whose investigation helped catalyse the exit . Only 29% of voters think Sir Keir looks like a prime minister in waiting, including 48% of people who voted Labour in 2019's general election. The head of the opposition has resolutely avoided offering any kind of vision for Britain, fearful it might be construed as vaguely socialist, and has even been averse to robustly challenging the ruling Tory party. Another shadow cabinet minister agreed. Like Toto the dog pulling back the wizard's curtain, the rancorous and increasingly risible leadership contest is exposing rifts within the SNP as never before; instead of revealing a kindly old . Keir Starmers wait-it-out approach may finally be beginning to pay dividends, two and a half years after he was elected Labour leader. Starmer turned in some more relaxed performances at Prime Ministers Questions, starting to look more confident and suggesting that he had finally got the measure of Johnson. Sat 11 Jun 2022 14.57 EDT. Sunaks challenge will be to convince the country that its current problems lie more with global events than his own party, but that will be very, very hard given how strongly people feel about this. The non-Corbynite majority of Labour MPs didnt have an alternative candidate either; hence their mood of gloom and fatalism. And, in a further nod to the business-friendly "New Labour" days of the 1990s and 2000s, he's even tapping Tony Blair's moneymen to fund his bid for power. BMG Research interviewed a representative sample of 2,091 GB adults online between 16 and 18 August. Posts; Latest Activity; Photos . But he has made his own luck too. For one thing, the protocol deal may stumble. Starmer has refused to cash in on the most visible sign of growing public discontent at Tory policies that continue to redistribute wealth upwards. Sunak was on top of the detail. Page of 216. Approval in the Blue Wall is no better, with the Governments approval on immigration down by one point to -44%, although it has improved its rating on the economy (-33%, +5), and the NHS (-49%, +2) since January. ', asks Mark Dolan. Changes of this kind are not like electoral on-off switches. 27 per cent of people are satisfied with how he is performing in his job while 34 per cent are dissatisfied, for a net approval rating of -6 (accounting for rounding). Only 17% say a Conservative government with Rishi Sunak as prime minister. These could include a comparison of leading politicians within the same party (to gauge support for future leadership contests), or compare the current leader of one party to an alternative leader of a second. The politicians listed below include: The following polls have asked people which leader they think would better handle the COVID-19 pandemic. The following polls asked about voters' opinions on Ed Davey, leader of the Liberal Democrats since August 2020. The following polls asked about voters' opinions on Jeremy Corbyn, the former leader of the Labour Party until 4 April 2020. LONDON Keir Starmer is reportedly considering hiring Sue Gray, the senior civil servant who investigated pandemic rule-busting parties in Boris Johnson's government, as his chief of staff. Hence some of the changes to the leaders office which he has made since then. Starmer has experience that Blair didn't. Keir Starmer was rewarded for his "strategic patience", according to an ally, when . Sir Keir took over his party's leadership from Jeremy Corbyn in April last year, and by September the party was ahead of the Conservatives in some polls for the first time since Mr Johnson became prime minister. The Labour leaders promises to team up with business may unsettle some on the left of his party, who are already worried about Starmers increasingly cosy relationship with the City. In late June, he formally ditched those promises, saying Labour would be starting from scratch. The Opinium figures, which will raise further concerns within Labour over the party leader's performance, shows that the prime minister has a two-point lead over his opponent. Truss is hampered by being deeply uncharismatic - possibly even more so than Starmer, and in stark contrast to her immediate predecessor, Boris Johnson. Leader of the British Labour Party, Keir Starmer, says that if nothing changes, Great Britain's GDP per capita would be lower than that of Poland in 7 years, and that of Hungary and Romania in 17 years. Leadership approval ratings Rishi . Sunak also gets to choose the election date. Adam Drummond, Opinium's head of political polling, said: "Keir Starmer's ratings have taken a tumble as Labour voters begin to fear that he isn't the one to lead the party back to power. It is, admittedly, early days for such speculation. In recent months, trade unions have threatened to make further cuts to their funding, too. The damage done by the polarisation, recklessness, venality and destructiveness of the May-Johnson-Truss years casts long shadows that will shape the politics of this decade. No Tory leader can simply declare the convulsions of the past seven years over, or announce that from now on, they will be competent and consensual. March 2, 2023 10:16 am CET. Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player. Keir Starmer is set to appoint Sue Gray, the senior civil servant who investigated the partygate scandal, as his chief of staff.. Gray, who has a fearsome reputation for probing ministerial misbehaviour and ethics concerns, has left her role as head of the Union and Constitution Directorate at the Cabinet Office and is soon expected to join Starmer's team. 2. Start your Independent Premium subscription today. Labours new HQ in Southwark is described by party officials as a serious upgrade, with the NEC member quoted earlier calling it a proper campaign HQ, like it was in 1997., The party has also been on a hiring spree in recent months, advertising for dozens of new positions across the country. He also had the shameless Johnson and the Faragiste Tory press bursting to make trouble. Boris Johnson has been greedily eyeing a return. Despite the prime ministers problems, from the fall of Kabul to the defence of Owen Paterson, the myth of his personal invincibility seemed to persist. Only 17% say a Conservative government with Rishi Sunak as prime minister. That amounts to a 10% swing to Labour since the election. The DUP was not allowed to hijack the launch and mobilise the European Research Group. Approval ratings for former party leaders, Preferred Prime Minister and Chancellor polling, Question asked for joint approval of Ed Davey & Mark Pack, Opinion polling for the next United Kingdom general election, Opinion polling on the United Kingdom rejoining the European Union (2020present), https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Leadership_approval_opinion_polling_for_the_next_United_Kingdom_general_election&oldid=1141047708, Leadership approval opinion polling for United Kingdom general elections, Short description with empty Wikidata description, Wikipedia articles in need of updating from November 2022, All Wikipedia articles in need of updating, Wikipedia articles in need of updating from January 2022, Wikipedia articles in need of updating from October 2022, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 23 February 2023, at 02:35. Nobody wants to see industrial action that is disruptive.. Second, it confirmed that he may be starting to steer the Tory party towards a more moderate and pragmatic place. Although his net approval fell to -22% nationally on 18 February, his lowest ever, he ends the month having gained a marginal point from his January rating in both the Red Wall and in Great Britain (up to -17% in both). Keir Starmer was rewarded for his strategic patience, according to an ally, when just as the year ended, he took a clear lead over Boris Johnson as the leader people would prefer to have as prime minister. While their lead of 9% in the Blue Wall represents a slight one-point narrowing in comparison to the end of last month, the partys lead over the Conservatives has altogether grown during February by two points in the Red Wall and by six points nationally. It comes with Labour MPs still feeling gloomy over Starmers performance at prime ministers questions on Wednesday. It was an attempt to turn Starmers weaknesses into strengths. Rishi Sunak branded Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer 'Mr 2nd Referendum' as he told the 1922 Committee of backbench Tories that the public are sick of Brexit 'drama'. But the problem runs deeper. The 10-point gap has been roughly stable since June, with the resignation of Boris Johnson and the leadership election having no significant impact on the polls. Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer is trailing Boris Johnson as the British public's preferred prime minister by 17 percentage points, according to a new poll. 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With such a worldview, he is beholden to the City, not ordinary people. But other Starmer allies dismissed the findings, claiming it was difficult to draw . A senior Labour source said: We know what needs to be done between now and the next election and are ticking everything off on the list. But it remains to be seen whether the announcement of a deal with the European Union over the Northern Ireland Protocol will lead to a reversal in the Governments polling fortunes. Indeed, Labours biggest backer, the union Unite, has reduced its contributions to the party in retaliation for Starmers efforts to shift away from the socialist policies of Corbyn. Labour leader Keir Starmer addresses the annual Labour Party conference in Brighton, England, on 9 September 2021 (AFP) Keir Starmer's wait-it-out approach may finally be . Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Starmer, he said, was making catastrophic errors, creating a punch-up with our own side. In a nationally representative poll taken August 26th to 29th, Keir Starmer leads Liz Truss by 10 points or more on: And also by 11 points for each of paying attention to detail (41% to 30%), being a capable leader (38% to 27%) and they are going to make the country a better place (35% to 24%). And she heads a Conservative Party barely able to conceal its disarray after such a long spell in government, just as Britain is about to lunge from an energy and cost-of-living crisis into full-blown recession. Keir Starmer, leader of the Labour Party, speaks at the National Farmers' Union (NFU) conference in Birmingham, UK, on Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2023.