A poll released on the eve of the Labour Party conference in Liverpool has found that Sir Kier Starmer now ranks as the least popular prime minister on record.
A survey of 1,100 adults this month by polling firm Ipsos has found that only 13 per cent of the public are satisfied with the performance of Prime Minister Starmer. In contrast, 79 per cent are dissatisfied, The Telegraph reported.
This put the Labour leader at a net satisfaction rating of -66 per cent, the lowest level ever recorded by the polling firm since comparable statistics were first collected in 1977.
Starmer now ranks below former Tory Prime Ministers Rishi Sunak and Sir John Major, both of whom have recorded net negative ratings of 59 per cent during their tenures in Number 10.
Meanwhile, the poll also gave a commanding lead to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party with 34 per cent of the vote, compared to Labour at just 22 per cent, which saw its support decline further by three points over the past month.
According to Ipsos, Labour has now fallen to its lowest level of support since 2009, under the leadership of Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who ultimately led the party into election defeat and a fourteen-year sojourn in political irrelevance.
Commenting on the poll, the senior director of UK politics at Ipsos, Gideon Skinner, said: “Keir Starmer’s personal satisfaction rating shows the scale of the task facing him amid growing talk of a leadership challenge.”
“But Labour’s issues are deeper than changes in personnel – they are losing votes to both Left and Right, with the public still pessimistic about the state of the economy, immigration and public services, despite his planned relaunch to put a renewed focus on delivery,” Skinner continued.
“Reform’s 12-point lead confirms the party’s strong performance this year, helped by ongoing public concern over immigration but also wider discontent over the state of the nation, allowing Reform to take on the mantle of change.”
The strong showing for Reform, which has led in over 100 polls this year, comes in the wake of the latest MRP seat-by-seat projections from YouGov.
The pollster, which combined a survey of over 13,000 people with other data, such as census figures, to estimate the election outcome of each constituency, found that Nigel Farage would likely become prime minister were an election to be held today. The projection put Reform on a like 311 seats in the House of Commons, up from their current level of five.
In addition to the rising power of Farage and Reform, Labour and Starmer are also facing increasing challenges from the Greens, the Lib Dems, and septugenarian socialist Jeremy Corby’s so far unnamed ‘Your Party‘, as voters of all stripes sour on the Westminster establishment.
Rebellions from within the Labour Party may also be in the offing, with Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham publicly hinting that he may be willing to challenge Starmer for the leadership.
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