MORE than half of people think the UK is “moving in the wrong direction”, according to a new poll which shows a drop in favourability for Keir Starmer.
The poll by Ipsos, conducted between August 9 and 12, showed a post-General Election drop in the perception of the Prime Minister, as well as his deputy Angela Rayner and Chancellor Rachel Reeves.
Of those polled, 22% said that they think things in the UK are heading in the right direction, 52% in the wrong direction and 19% neither.
Starmer remains the most popular politician asked about, with 38% having a favourable opinion towards the Prime Minister and 38% unfavourable.
This is despite a drop in his net rating to 0 from a rating of plus seven immediately after the election, but compares to a net rating of minus 10 for Rishi Sunak in his second month as prime minister.
Deputy Prime Minister Rayner also faced a dip in ratings. Some 33% said they were favourable towards Rayner and 36% unfavourable.
There has been a slight increase in the numbers of those who hold unfavourable opinions towards Home Secretary Yvette Cooper and Chancellor Reeves.
Some 28% said they are favourable towards Cooper and 33% unfavourable, with 27% favourable towards Reeves and 35% unfavourable.
Ratings for Sunak and the Conservative Party remain steady post-election. Some 20% said they were favourable towards Sunak and 58% unfavourable.
Gideon Skinner, senior director of UK politics at Ipsos, said Labour and Starmer are “still enjoying a moderate honeymoon period”.
He said: “The public feel somewhat more positively towards them than they did before the election was called, they are more popular than their main opponents, and their ratings are above the equivalent figures for Boris Johnson and the Conservatives two months after their 2019 victory, and above the two months after Rishi Sunak became PM.
“But Labour’s ratings are not impregnable (for example, Boris Johnson benefited from a bigger halo effect at the start of the Covid pandemic).
“There are signs of a small increase in public criticism of Labour, the Prime Minister and other key Cabinet ministers this month, but just as important for their longer-term prospects is the level of pessimism around the state of the country.
“This is not as bad as it was under the Conservatives, but half of Britons still think things are going in the wrong direction, and delivering on the public’s desire for improvements will be key when the honeymoon period ends.”
Ipsos interviewed a representative sample of 1148 adults aged 18 and over across the UK between August 9 and 12.
