Labour and Starmer approval ratings continue to drop as government nears 100 days in power

• Over half (52%) of Britons are unfavourable towards Starmer (joint highest as Labour leader)
• Labour goes from +6 net favourability upon taking office in July to -21 now
• When asked to give the government a score between 0 and 10, October’s score is 3.8, down from 4.4 in September

The latest Ipsos Political Pulse, taken 4th-7th of October, explores attitudes towards various political parties and their leaders and what direction the country is going in.

Favourability ratings

• 26% are favourable towards Keir Starmer this month (-6 ppts from September) and 52% are unfavourable (+8).

• Meanwhile 20% are favourable towards Rachel Reeves (-3) and 50% unfavourable (+6).
• 44% believe that Reeves is doing a bad job as Chancellor. This is identical to the percentage that thought former Chancellor Jeremy Hunt was doing a bad job at the last budget in March 2024. 
• In terms of the Labour Party itself, 29% are favourable (-7) and 45% are unfavourable (+8). 
• However, Labour’s approval ratings remain higher than the Conservatives. Less than a quarter (24%) are favourable towards the party, with 52% unfavourable.

Direction of the country and government performance  

• 58% think things in Britain are heading in the wrong direction (+3 ppts from September). This is nine percentage points higher than the first rating recorded after Labour’s victory of 49% in early July.

  

• Ipsos have recently introduced a new question that will be tracked across the lifetime of this parliament where we ask the public to give the government a score between 0 and 10 in terms of how they are running the country – 10 means they are doing a very good job and 0 a very bad job.  October’s score is 3.8, down from 4.4 out of 10 in September.

Swing in the first 100 days 

• The net favourability shift is at -13.5.
• Men show a swing of -15.0 and women -12.5.
• Younger voters (18-34) register a less negative swing of -4.5, while those aged 55+ reflect a swing of -18.0.
•  Labour retains some support among its voters with a swing of -10.5, contrasted with -19.0 among Conservative voters.
• Graduates show a swing of -10.0, while non-graduates reflect a more pronounced swing of -14.5.

Party conferences 

• 34% of Britons say that they followed the Labour Party conference closely (-2 ppt from October 2023). A quarter (25%) say they followed the Conservative Party conference closely (-11 ppt from October 2023). 
• Just over two in ten (22%) believe that this year’s Labour conference went well for Keir Starmer (-17 ppt from October 2023). Three in ten (30%) say that it did not go well.
• Just under two in ten (19%) believe that this year’s Conservative party conference went well for the party. 22% believe it did not go well. 

Elsewhere in the poll

• Three in five (62%) are not confident that Labour have a good long-term economic plan.
• Just a third (33%) are confident that Labour have a good long-term plan for Britain’s public services – over half (57%) are not confident.26% hold a favourable opinion towards the Lib Dems (-2), 34% unfavourable (no change).
• 28% are favourable towards the Greens (-2), 32% are unfavourable (+3).
• 27% are favourable towards Reform UK (-1) and 49% are unfavourable (+2).
   

Keiran Pedley, Director of Politics at Ipsos, said:

These numbers make difficult reading for Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves, with both registering their worst favourability scores with Ipsos since taking on their respective positions. With 6 in 10 not confident in Labour’s long term economic plan, the pressure is on for the coming budget to land well, with Labour facing significant political risk if it doesn’t.

Technical note:

• Ipsos interviewed a representative sample of 1,133 adults aged 18+ across Great Britain. Interviews were conducted by online between the 4th-7th October 2024. 
• Data are weighted to match the profile of the population. All polls are subject to a wide range of potential sources of error.