All rights reserved. Another shadow cabinet minister agreed. He has become the voice of a new populist grassroots politics filling the void on the left created by Starmers all-too visible absence. Ursula von der Leyen, the European commission president, was well briefed. Nobody wants to see industrial action that is disruptive.. He was at the center of a police investigation into the so-called cash for honors scandal in 2006, which saw claims that seats in the House of Lords were being offered in exchange for large unregistered loans to the Labour Party. Adam Drummond, Opinium's head of political polling, said: "Keir Starmer's ratings have taken a tumble as Labour voters begin to fear that he isn't the one to lead the party back to power. He has blamed ballooning debt from the Covid-19 pandemic as the reason. Levys return to the fold has also provided a big boost to Labours fundraising clout. Boris Johnson makes a better prime minister than Keir Starmer would despite Partygate, the cost of living crisis and the confidence vote in Johnson held by his MPs . However, it is not all bad news for Starmer. That has included reneging on his commitment to take back into public ownership key utilities, including gas and electricity. Woman with cerebral palsy jailed after waving 77-year-old cyclist i Sadiq Khan sparks outrage after branding Britons' concerns about Ul Andrew Tate says he's 'seriously ill' as he seeks permission to lea Hunt set for last minute change to energy price cap which will save Britons hundreds of pounds. Theres no complacency but we remain confident of the strategy we have to get Keir to No 10., Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning. In March, Boris Johnson's net approval rating rose to +3, meaning that the PM now has a better net approval rating than Keir Starmer for the first time since April 2020. Our one rule for them framing is paying off, said the source, with Johnson proving it to be true time and again. In GB as a whole, the Governments net approval rating for its handling of these three issues now sits at -35% (down four points from late January), -49% (-7), and -39% (-3) respectively. It was the last bit that was telling, implying that there was no one around him who was prepared to bring him bad news honest feedback being a basic requirement of any functioning organisation, as Starmer would have known from running the Crown Prosecution Service. But the work that Keir has been doing to reform the party, often without fanfare, means that we can seriously talk about winning the next election. This takeover of party machinery has crucially extended to the partys finances and fundraising efforts. In his party conference speech in which Corbyn supporters were reduced to impotent heckling Starmer derided Johnson as a trivial politician; in the Commons, Starmer repeated the line the joke is wearing thin. neutral role in the civil service would come at a time when Labour holds a strong lead over the ruling Conservatives in opinion polls and as Starmer sets out his vision and policy priorities for Britain ahead of a . Instead, unlike Liz Truss, he prioritised the things where he could begin to shift the dial and build some political capital. That view is backed by Labours left-wing Momentum faction, which is preparing a showdown with Starmer at the party conference. When asked who is best to manage the economy in the years ahead, 30% say a Labour government with Sir Keir Starmer as Prime Minister. But its all part of a major play by the opposition to woo firms, while key moneymen from the Blair era are being tasked up with filling the partys coffers once again. He also had the shameless Johnson and the Faragiste Tory press bursting to make trouble. None of this means Sunak is suddenly the effective and successful leader that the Tory party has lacked for so long. The Opinium figures, which will raise further concerns within Labour over the party leader's performance, shows that the prime minister has a two-point lead over his opponent. He is also said to regularly chat with Starmer about the job of opposition leader and what to expect if he enters No. Meanwhile, Sunak continues to trail Keir Starmer in most of the country on the question of which would be the better Prime Minister at this moment. Much as I detest Starmer and the current Labour Party he will likely win back the ugly racist Brexit gammons who voted Tory or Farage last election, he won't loose safe seats like mine, and he won't care if a few of the more comfortable and liberal Tory seats flip Lib Dem. Although his net approval fell to -22% nationally on 18 February, his lowest ever, he ends the month having gained a marginal point from his January rating in both the Red Wall and in Great Britain (up to -17% in both). This is especially true for Labour voters, more than half of whom blame Truss (44%) or Sunak (10%) for the current crisis while only 11% blame global events. In a similar vein, Starmer has strictly distanced Labour from the spate of strikes breaking out as workers struggle with escalating costs, despite earlier committing towork shoulder to shoulder with the unions to stand up for working people, tackle insecure work and low pay Oppose Tory attacks on the right to take industrial action and the weakening of workplace rights., While Starmer has agreed, when pressed, that workers have a right to strike in principle, his office has condemned strikes, like the rail unions, when they actually take place. Sorting the protocol was in that category, a sensible bit of ground-clearing and confidence-building. He added: Real grown-ups would actually get everyone back around the table, unite the party, pull the trade unions back on board, build up our war chest and then go on to win the general election.. Labour looks to Keir Starmer's readiness to pounce. Keir Starmer has been urged to intervene in the selection process for a Labour target "red wall" seat, after a leading candidate who had the support of eight trade unions was blocked from . Sunaks handling of the NI protocol suggests a leader and a Tory party with more left in the tank than some think. More than six in ten (61%) of Rishi Sunaks voters support the measure, as do 57% of Labour voters, suggesting this policy will land well in the country as a whole. The following polls asked about voters' opinions on Nigel Farage, leader of the Reform UK, formerly named Brexit Party, until 6 March 2021. Prince Harry set to lose crucial royal role as bitter feud could se 'Whats up with government by WhatsApp? When asked who they blamed for the crisis, voters placed equal weight on Liz Truss (21%) and the war in Ukraine (21%). Latest news, analysis and comment on French politics and beyond. Too soon for that. But his handling of the Northern Ireland protocol changes this week suggests a leader with more in the tank than critics have allowed. Data are weighted. The battered economy, on which Starmer focused almost all his questions to Sunak in the Commons yesterday, remains far and away the central battleground of electoral politics for the foreseeable future. Labour ahead of Tories by two points, but Labours leader failing to make a personal breakthrough. A survey of party members in March this year found that Tony Blair was just as popular with them as Jeremy Corbyn. Log in to access content and manage your profile. An improved UK-EU relationship that could eventually ease Britains trading problems is more distant still. politics . He urged those in the session to make sure that as we go into that election and hopefully the other side of that election, we are saying the right thing in the right way about what we can achieve.. Even some Tory rebels were baffled by Starmers performance, saying it had helped Johnson regain some stability after the confidence vote. Yoda Age: 22. But among Labour voters, 65% were in favour, and 18% opposed. But Levys comeback is not free of controversy. Which will be only too evident as he addresses Labours annual conference next week. With such a worldview, he is beholden to the City, not ordinary people. 7 times Hancock hogged UK headlines, Chief of Staff - Maternity Cover (Brussels), Metsola wants Ukraine EU membership talks to start this year, Aggro-culture: Farmers protest brings Brussels EU Quarter to a standstill, Rishi Sunak says Whitehall must be impartial amid row over Grays Labour job. 10. Different polling companies report widely differing figures on this question, but even Savanta ComRes, long the least favourable to Starmer, now has him two points ahead of Johnson when people are asked: Which of the following do you think would make the best prime minister? Starmer on 33 per cent and Johnson on 31 per cent are both eclipsed by dont know on 36 per cent, but politics is a game of relative advantage. The non-Corbynite majority of Labour MPs didnt have an alternative candidate either; hence their mood of gloom and fatalism. Sunak was on top of the detail. First poll of 2023 shows Rishi Sunak favourability at -29 . The National Anthem will be sung at the start of the Labour Party conference next weekend, for the first time in recent memory (h/t @BBCBenWright), Saying Im not ideological, Starmer told BBC Breakfast over the summer: Weve reversed those 2019 manifesto positions because we needed to show the country that were credible, were responsible on the economy.. Conservative government loom big in voters' minds. Some 39% of people see the Labour leader as the more effective PM according to the poll, which was commissioned by the Evening Standard. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. It wasnt just the Corbynites who were disillusioned with Starmer despairing Blairites who supported him confided sadly that they didnt think he was up to the job, and that the best the party could hope for was that he would be a transitional leader of the kind that Neil Kinnock had been. Latest news, analysis and comment from POLITICOs editors and guest writers in Europe. Labour extended its lead nationally to 27%, the widest margin it has held since Sunak became PM in October, while also opening up a lead of 28% in the Red Wall (another record lead with Sunak as Prime Minister). Most voters in Britain dont have Europe or Northern Ireland on their minds anyway. Keir Starmer faced a grilling from students during a visit to St. Columb's College on Friday. After three years of near-destitution brought on by COVID-19, falling membership numbers and reduced union funding the party is now beginning to look cashed-up. February was another good month of polling for the Labour Party and Keir Starmer, who ended January holding a 21% lead over the Conservatives. The king played his symbolic role. Labour are on 36% of the vote, with the Tories up one point on 34%. The Lib Dems are on 13% with the Greens on 6%. politics . 61 per cent want 'completely new type of political . Sir Keir took over his party's leadership from Jeremy Corbyn in April last year, and by September the party was ahead of the Conservatives in some polls for the first time since Mr Johnson became prime minister. LONDON Keir Starmer is reportedly considering hiring Sue Gray, the senior civil servant who investigated pandemic rule-busting parties in Boris Johnson's government, as his chief of staff. Boris Johnson makes a better prime minister than Keir Starmer would despite Partygate, the cost of living crisis and the confidence vote in Johnson held by his MPs, according to the latest Observer poll.. For one thing, the protocol deal may stumble. Only a minority of 2019 Conservative Party voters, 43%, back a Sunak-led Conservative government to manage the economy. Speaking alongside Blair-era Minister Peter Mandelson at a business roundtable in late January, Starmer said he wanted to extract as much as I can from you, have a really grown-up conversation, and also for you to see that it is possible to mold, have your fingerprints on what were doing, two people presenttold POLITICO. . politics . He helped Labour raise 100 million from 1994 to 2007, before leaving when Blair resigned and he still has deep links to Britains private sector. Its much less normalized compared to the U.S. and there are much bigger negatives to it in the U.K. aside from the pragmatic arguments. Middle East Eye. The hire of Alli as chair of campaign financing was a particularly adroit decision, according to several MPs and party officials. Sorting the protocol was a sensible bit of ground-clearing and confidence-building. Rishi Sunak during prime ministers questions on Wednesday. Search. Keir Starmer was rewarded for his "strategic patience", according to an ally, when . Recent polls also suggest the party has a clear double-digit lead in the 23 June byelection in Wakefield, the type of seat it will need to win back if it hopes to win a majority or form the government at the next election. A senior Labour source said: We know what needs to be done between now and the next election and are ticking everything off on the list. Blair and some of his allies were caricatured as never being happier than when rubbing shoulders with Britains rich and powerful. If you do not have an account you can register here. about 1 month ago . Rishi Sunak branded Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer 'Mr 2nd Referendum' as he told the 1922 Committee of backbench Tories that the public are sick of Brexit 'drama'. Amid all that, Sunak didnt cower in the bunker. It also enjoys some electoral advantages over Labour. R&WS Research Team. The findings which show the Liberal Democrats on 11 per cent, the Greens on 5 per cent and Reform UK on 3 per cent suggest Sir Keir is currently on course to become Prime Minister at the next general election and may win a Commons majority. August 20, 2022 7:00 am (Updated August 21, 2022 9:35 am) Labour holds a 10-point lead over the Conservatives as Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak attack each other in public - but Sir Keir Starmer's . His dullness became steadiness; his earnestness became a serious leader for serious times. Only 17% say a Conservative government with Rishi Sunak as prime minister. Only 17% say a Conservative government with Rishi Sunak as prime minister. One member of Labours National Executive Committee (NEC), the partys ruling body, said Alli is a high net worth individual himself which will make quite a difference when he needs to tap people up to say Im giving money, you need to as well.'. But Starmers success - assuming it can be maintained - has come at an extraordinarily high political price. Now all the polls are reporting not just that Labour is in the lead but that people would rather have Starmer as prime minister than the incumbent. Even Blairs former manager for high value fundraising Vanessa Bowcock is back in a similar role in Starmers office. Left-wing Labour MP Diane Abbott said Starmer seems to be reverting to the worst practices of New Labour., What business will want, because theyre giving us all this money, is theyll want results, she said. 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Sir Keir had started to close the gap in April, pollsters Opimium said, but in a survey held on 13 and 14 May, he garnered just 23% support as preferred prime minister. Overall, 57% of all voters support this, rising to 78% of Rishi Sunaks own voters. Labour holds large leads over the Conservatives in each of our three tracker polls as the party most trusted on the economy, the NHS, and immigration. Posts; Latest Activity; Photos . I want our volunteers and staff to have the best pamphlets and resources and information possible, they said. 2023. The damage done by the polarisation, recklessness, venality and destructiveness of the May-Johnson-Truss years casts long shadows that will shape the politics of this decade. The following polls asked about voters' opinions on Ed Davey, leader of the Liberal Democrats since August 2020. . Sir Keir Starmer will deliver his conference speech today with the party in a commanding position in the polls (Picture: Metro/YouGov) Labour has hit an historic opinion poll high after a . Such criteria would presumably be based on an assessment of public opinion in Scotland over a sustained period: a consistent, long-running lead for independence in opinion polls, say, or in election results (measured, as the SNP have recently suggested, in terms of a vote share of over 50 per cent for independence-supporting parties). The next election is expected in 2024, but it could be sooner if Liz Truss's huge tax giveaway backfiresmore than it already has. Do you believe Keir Starmer's words? A People Polling poll for GB News, conducted on February . Boris Johnson's opinion poll lead over Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer as the "best prime minister" for the UK evaporated on Monday, as Downing Street tried to stop the fuel crisis descending . Sir Keir Rodney Starmer KCB KC (/ k r /; born 2 September 1962) is a British politician and barrister who has served as Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party since 2020. Sir Keir's office declined to comment, saying it did not offer 'running commentaries' on opinion polls. His party trails Labour by, Sunak has had luck along the way. Rishi Sunak is shaping up to be a prime minister Keir Starmer should be wary of,Sunak's handling of the NI protocol suggests a leader - and a Tory party - with more left in the tank than some think, says Guardian columnist Martin Kettle Starmer is said to have become increasingly comfortable in these settings over the past 12 months as his status as prime minister-in-waiting Labour is consistently polling 20 points ahead of the Tories is further entrenched. Boris Johnson has been greedily eyeing a return. Starmer himself remained grimly determined, with only one outburst of temper or, at least, only one that was reported to the outside world, and that was after a delay of many months, suggesting that the inner team remained loyal throughout. The 1997 quip by Mandelson that he was intensely relaxed about people getting filthy rich as long as they pay their taxes became something of guiding principle for the last Labour governments fundraising efforts. Keir Starmers wait-it-out approach may finally be beginning to pay dividends, two and a half years after he was elected Labour leader. A return to power-sharing at Stormont, with the DUP playing second fiddle to Sinn Fin, is a long way off. At the same time, the Governments net competency rating is up in both the Red Wall and the Blue Wall, by three points to -35% in the Red Wall and by two points to -36% in the Blue Wall, respectively. In a speech in July he said rebooting the economy would be a Labour governments defining task. Commenting on the poll, a nationally representative survey of British adults by British Polling Council (BPC) member People Polling, Professor Matt Goodwin said: Both these numbers and the polls more broadly suggest that the Conservative Partys limited recovery that has been visible in the polls in recent weeks may have stalled. Starmers hope was that the public would eventually tire of the glaring cronyism and corruption of a ruling party that has been 12 years in power. 2023 Boris Johnson and Keir Starmer at the Platinum Pageant for the Queen in London. Explore the latest YouGov polling, survey results and articles about Keir Starmer. However, this has not had the desired effect. Page of 216. Hes a lawyer hes learning his brief.. In the aftermath of the Autumn Budget, I imagine these numbers will be a relief to Starmer and his team. Starmer has differentiated Labour simply by eschewing the more indefensible forms of predatory capitalism the current Conservative leadership embraces. But the problem runs deeper. When asked who is best to manage the economy in the years ahead, 30% say a Labour government with Sir Keir Starmer as Prime Minister. Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in, The opinion polls have turned in the Labour leaders favour vindicating his strategic patience, Find your bookmarks in your Independent Premium section, under my profile. Enough is Enough unequivocally denounces a heartless establishment that, it implies, includes Starmer himself. Around the middle of the year, however, the tide started to turn. 2. The Windsor Framework "gives enough" to end the Stormont stalemate, Sir Keir Starmer believes. A backlash is coming. How the PM could block sleaze watchdog's advice on Gray hire and if Labour will ignore him, Opinion | Boris Johnsons 'jobs for Tory cronies' legacy is still alive and kicking, Tory MPs furious at Starmer hiring Sue Gray as Rees-Mogg calls her report 'left-wing stitch-up', publics view of the the Labour leader himself appears to be becoming more negative, Keir Starmer will have been hoping for a polling bounce following his big announcement on freezing energy bills, 'How bad are the pics? The more he engages with people from the City, the more he feels comfortable with the vocabulary and the issues, a department head at an investment bank said. One month ago he was on -3 in the equivalent BMG poll and in June the number of people who were satisfied was the same as those dissatisfied. Political Monitor. New polling shows that Muslims in the UK are losing faith in the Labour Party, driven partly by unfavourable views towards leader Keir Starmer. People in Britain, generally, are much more cynical about big money influencing politics, he warned. So will his left-wing opponents, and mainstream MPs who . Date(s) but more one-sided than a North Korean election held at gunpoint. Polls indicate the Tories still lag behind Labour in national opinion . The vaccine effect wore off, and the stories of parties in Downing Street last year blew up a bomb marked double standards which had been sitting unexploded for some time under the weakening structure. LONDON (Reuters) -Keir Starmer, the leader of Britain's opposition Labour Party, has picked as his new chief of staff Sue Gray, a government official whose investigation helped catalyse the exit . All Time Today Last Week Last Month. When Starmer was running for leader, many of his supporters expressed how important it was that he looked like a prime-minister-in . On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Well, Starmer saw Boris off, and his successor Liz Truss - and Labour have had an opinion poll lead for the last 474 days. Starmer may scrape a win at the next general election, against an internally divided Conservative governing party only too obviously divorced from the concerns of much of the electorate. "Labour's poor position today is the result of factors both out of their control and things they should be deeply concerned with.". February was another good month of polling for the Labour Party and Keir Starmer, who ended January holding a 21% lead over the Conservatives. Shadow Cabinet ministers have been urged to attend as many dinners with prospective donors as possible, with the leaders office sometimes pairing ministers with wealthy individuals. Some 75% approve of the government's handling of the vaccine rollout. Back in June, his spokesperson said: Weve been clear in the position that the strikes shouldnt go ahead. Starmers reluctance to criticise big business or show solidarity with workers has shifted political ground in the UK even further to the right. From the (limited) media I read it was pretty well received and will maintain/increase Labour's lead in the opinion polls. ', asks Mark Dolan. Starmers office had not responded before publication of this article to a request for comment from Middle East Eye. Gray, currently in a top job in the Cabinet Office, was tasked with investigating multiple reports of lockdown rule . At various dates in the run up to the next United Kingdom general election, various organisations have carried out opinion polling to gauge the opinions that voters hold towards political leaders. Plaid Cymru call on Mark Drakeford to sack health minister after damning health board report, Sir Keir Starmer defends appointing partygate investigator Sue Gray as chief of staff, Johnson allies claim partygate was 'a Labour stitch up' after Starmer appoints Sue Gray to top role. Cubus Follow. But allow some credit where it is due to Sunak. These signs of change should be watched seriously, because the Tory party has history as an election winner. It is a dramatic capitulation for a party in opposition that grew out of the activities of the trade union movement. Approval for the government's handling of the pandemic is at its highest since mid-April last year, with 47% of adults happy and 33% disapproving. Approval ratings for former party leaders, Preferred Prime Minister and Chancellor polling, Question asked for joint approval of Ed Davey & Mark Pack, Opinion polling for the next United Kingdom general election, Opinion polling on the United Kingdom rejoining the European Union (2020present), https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Leadership_approval_opinion_polling_for_the_next_United_Kingdom_general_election&oldid=1141047708, Leadership approval opinion polling for United Kingdom general elections, Short description with empty Wikidata description, Wikipedia articles in need of updating from November 2022, All Wikipedia articles in need of updating, Wikipedia articles in need of updating from January 2022, Wikipedia articles in need of updating from October 2022, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 23 February 2023, at 02:35.