52% of Britons say Keir Starmer should stand down as PM and Leader of the Labour Party

New data finds the public is in doubt as to the continued political viability of Keir Starmer as the Leader of the Labour Party. 

Key findings 

• Half think Starmer should stand down: 52%percent of Britons now think Starmer should stand down as Prime Minister and Leader of the Labour Party, an increase of 4ppts from November 2025 
  
  
• Labour’s projected fate uncertain, even with a new leader: 37% of Britons think a new leader would make Labour more likely to win in the next General Election, while an equal share (39%) think it will make no difference. Just 11% think Labour is more likely to win with Keir Starmer staying in place, a figure that rises to 22% among 2024 GE Labour voters.

• Burnham leads list of potential contenders: 1 in 5 (20%) Britons named Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham as their most preferred next leader of the Labour party if it wasn’t Keir Starmer, rising to 1 in 3 (33%) of 2024 GE Labour voters. However, a significant share say they either support no one or are unsure.

• Reform UK considered opposition: Nearly half (46%) of the public consider Reform UK to be the main opposition to the current Labour government, in line with September 2025.
• More than 9 in 10 say Britain needs change: More than 9 in 10 (92%) think Britain needs change, though the public are divided as to whether that change should be radical (44%) or moderate (40%). Reform UK are both the party considered most trusted to bring the change the country needs (20%), followed by a 3-way tie between the Green party (13%), Labour (12%), and the Conservatives (12%). However, Reform UK also leads on being the most likely party to bring the change Britain does not need (40%), followed by Labour (16%) and the Green party (11%).

Commenting on the findings, Keiran Pedley, Research Director at Ipsos said:

"Our findings reflect that there is some confusion in the public about the Student Loan system. Whilst a majority think students should not pay interest on their loans at all, many do not know how the current situation actually works. With significant public concern about the cost of University and debt incurred by students, there is the potential for this to be a significant policy debate in the short to medium term.”

Notes to editors: 

• Ipsos interviewed a representative sample of 1,049 adults aged 18+ across Great Britain. Polling was conducted online between the 24th-26th February 2026. 

• Data are weighted to match the profile of the population. All polls are subject to a wide range of potential sources of error.