MORE people now believe Keir Starmer’s Government are worse than the preceding Tory administration in yet another demonstration of the Prime Minister’s plummeting popularity.
A More In Common poll of 2080 adults showed 31% preferred Rishi Sunak’s government, while 29% preferred the current one.
Amid rows over clothing donations and cuts to the Winter Fuel Payment, the Labour Government and Starmer have seen their popularity decline at a worrying rate after taking power less than three months ago.
The latest poll from Opinium, conducted between September 25 and 27 for The Observer, found that the Prime Minister’s net approval ratings are now -30%, down almost 50 points since he took on the position.
It showed that in just 11 weeks after coming into power, Starmer is now viewed less favourably than both Sunak and leader of Reform UK Nigel Farage.
Starmer’s net approval rating with More In Common has now fallen to -27%, down 38 points from when Labour took office.
It is a stark contrast to the reception that Tony Blair (below) received at a similar point following his own landslide in 1997, when it was reported his net score was as high as 93%.
He suggested it wasn’t surprising Starmer was facing problems, adding “he wasn’t popular in the run-up to the election”.
According to the poll, about one in five voters (22%) now think Labour will win the next General Election, despite the party picking up 411 out of 650 seats in the Commons in July.
Slightly more (23%) believe that the Conservatives will win the next election, which would require a historic swing following the party’s worst election defeat in modern history.
When asked whether they regretted their vote, 33% of Labour voters said they did.
Luke Tryl, the UK director of More in Common, said: “Three months ago it looked as though the Conservatives were headed for a multi-parliament spell in opposition.
“But the Starmer Government’s early missteps and growing voter volatility mean the path to power could be quicker than assumed.
“The challenge for the Conservatives is how best to take advantage. Our research suggests that a pure ‘unite the right’ strategy will leave the Conservatives far short of a majority.
“The party instead needs to focus first on winning over loyal Conservative voters who stayed at home in July, second to squeeze Labour and LibDem voters who are having second thoughts, and third to appeal to wavering Reform voters when the race becomes a straight Labour-Conservative choice.”
Curtice also told Times Radio the UK’s two-party system may have “effectively died a death” at the General Election, as he reflected on the need for the Conservatives to win back voters from Reform and Labour.
Tryl added while the Tories may have an opportunity to bounce back, there could easily be a future where the LibDems or Reform become the main opposition.
“If the next leader can execute a three-phase strategy, the Tories’ time in opposition could well be limited,” he said.
“However, the flip side of a more volatile electorate is that if the next leader gets their pitch wrong, the party could well find itself falling further, and potentially replaced by the Liberal Democrats or Reform UK as the main opposition party.”
