JEREMY Corbyn has revealed whether he thinks Keir Starmer will make a good Prime Minister.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with The National, the former Labour leader said: “Ask me next year.”
Corbyn added, however, that he didn’t think Starmer has made a good start.
“Becoming prime minister is a massive thing that's obviously dropped on your shoulders and you've got to suddenly be across every area of policy, including international and foreign policy,” he said.
“I think his initial statements on the lack of a commitment on council housing, the lack of a commitment on child poverty and the lack of any clear commitment on a ceasefire in Gaza are not a good start.”
Corbyn added: “And I'm extremely disappointed in that.”
The comments come as the new Labour Prime Minister is experiencing “something of a honeymoon period” with the public a week after the election, according to a pollster.
Voters’ impressions of Starmer have improved since his election victory, the survey by Ipsos found, with 40% saying they had a favourable view.
That figure is six points higher than in the last week of the campaign, while the number saying they had an unfavourable view has fallen from 41% to 33%.
The poll, carried out immediately after the election on July 5 and 6, is the first time Ipsos has given him a net positive approval rating since the brief Liz Truss premiership in October 2022.
Ipsos director of politics Keiran Pedley said: “These findings suggest something of a honeymoon period for Keir Starmer, with more Britons favourable towards him than before the general election and Britons more likely to expect his Government to change things for the better rather than worse.”
But he said that the Labour voters who put Starmer in Downing Street had “clear expectations of what they want to see delivered”, including more money for public services and improvements to the NHS.
About four in five Labour voters thought it was likely the new Government would improve the NHS in the next year, while about three-quarters expected more spending on public services.
Among people in general, 55% expected Labour to increase spending on public services in the next year, while 57% expected the party to improve the NHS.
Corbyn echoed that sentiment, saying that Labour “have got to deliver”.
He added that if there isn’t a “significant improvement” in the living standards of the poorest people in the UK, this government “is going to be in trouble in a very short time”.
Check out our full exclusive interview with Jeremy Corbyn in this week's Sunday National.
