Keir Starmer’s approval rating has fallen by 6 points to -41%, Opinium’s latest polling can reveal.
This is the current prime minister’s lowest ever approval rating according to an Opinium poll.
In addition, Opinium can reveal that there have only been three times in recent years a party leader has had worse approval ratings from the public:
Furthermore, barely two in five (41%) of Starmer’s own voters, 2024 Labour voters, approve of the job he is doing.
Looking elsewhere at Stamer’s cabinet, Rachel Reeves’ approval rating amongst the public has also fallen to -39% (-2).
Kemi Badenoch has had a comparatively good week – although still strongly disapproved of overall, her approval score has risen by 6 points to -19%. Ed Davey drops back into net negative territory (-1%, down 1 point) while Nigel Farage’s approvals have also dropped slightly (-12%, -2).
Wealth tax
In the week that Starmer refused to rule out the introduction of a wealth tax in the UK, Opinium found that over half (54%) of voters support a wealth tax compared to 14% who oppose it (+40% support).
Looking at what the public think the purpose of a wealth tax would be a quarter (25%) think it would be to reduce inequality compared to 36% who think it would be raise additional revenue fairly.
Voter views on what the threshold for a wealth tax should be are spread out, with just under 1 in 10 (8%) believing there should be a tax on all wealth. The most common threshold people believe there should be for a tax on wealth is above £1 million (21%), followed by over £500k (12%).
Reeves crying in Commons
When asked for opinions on Rachel Reeves’ key attributes, voters have a poor view of the chancellor across all measures. She performs worst on representing what most people think (net agree -41%), having similar views to the public (-40%) and being in touch with ordinary people (-39%).
However, following her recent show of emotion when she cried in the Commons, people did not feel harshly toward her, with a quarter (26%) feeling sympathy towards her. In addition, a third (32%) of people say their perception of Reeves has changed since seeing her cry in public. Almost one in five (18%) have a more positive view of her, compared to 14% who see her more negatively.
In general, the majority agree that they expect politicians to show emotion sometimes (58% agree), while over two in five agree that it’s natural that sometimes politicians will cry in public (45%).
Palestine Action
Three fifths (60%) of the public think that Palestine Action’s recent breaking into of RAF Brize Norton was not a legitimate form of protest, compared to 19% who thought it was.
Public view is more mixed on the government’s decision to designate Palestine Action as a terrorist group, with 39% supporting the ban, compared to 25% who oppose.
2024 Labour voters are much more divided on the decision (37% support vs 32% oppose), while Conservative (62% support vs 17% oppose) and Reform voters (59% support vs 17% oppose) are much more supportive of the ban.
James Crouch, head of policy and public affairs at Opinium, said: “Keir Starmer is in a vulnerable position after last week: the Prime Minister’s ratings have sunk to a new all-time low, putting him on par with Boris Johnson at the height of the Partygate scandal. With the Chancellor’s own ratings not far behind Starmer’s, questions will only intensify about how Downing Street plan to dig themselves out of the hole they’re now in.”
