Starmer Suffers Worst Approval of Any New British Prime Minister in Half

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Sir Kier Starmer has the worst approval rating of any prime minister in over a half century, with more than six in ten disapproving of his performance after five months in office, a survey conducted by IPSOS has found.

A poll of 1,028 people between November 27 and December 4 by IPSOS found that 61 per cent of British voters were “dissatisfied” with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, including nearly four in ten (39 per cent) of Labour Party supporters.

In comparison, merely 27 per cent of voters said that they were satisfied with the prime minister and just over half of Labour voters (54 per cent) said they were satisfied with their own leader, the Daily Mail reports.

The poll, therefore, gives Starmer a ‘net satisfaction’ rating of -34 per cent, the worst of any prime minister with five months in office since IPSOS began tracking such statistics during the premiership of Margaret Thatcher.

According to the firm, the second least popular PM after five months was Gordon Brown at -23 in 2007, then followed by Rishi Sunak at -22 in 2023. The most popular prime minister after five months was Tony Blair at +57 in 1997, with Sir John Major in second place at +33 in 1991.

The historically poor rating for Starmer was mirrored by growing pessimism about the policies of his fledgling leftist government, with confidence in the future of the British economy collapsing. IPSOS found that just 15 per cent of voters believe the economy will improve next year, while 65 per cent think that it will get even worse.

While Starmer came into office promising to put economic growth at the forefront of his agenda, his government has doubled down on the high tax and spend agenda of the previous Tory government.

Despite taxes already standing at decades-high levels, Starmer’s government has put forward £40 billion in new tax hikes as well as an inheritance tax raid on British farmers, which many fear will force family farms to sell their land just to be able to pay the government when parents die.

Commenting on the poll, Keiran Pedley, Director of UK Politics at Ipsos, said: “These findings reflect the difficult start Labour has had in office. Keir Starmer’s personal satisfaction ratings after 5 months are the weakest of all Prime Ministers measured by Ipsos going back to the late 1970s and nearly two-thirds expect the economy to worsen in the next year.

“However, with a large majority in parliament and the next election potentially as late as 2029, Labour still has time to turn things around.”

The poll represents another sign of weakness for the government, and a potential boon to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party, which is seeking to pick off disaffected Labour Party voters, particularly in working-class, Brexit-backing areas of the country, where many have felt left behind by the two liberal establishment parties in Westminster.