Low public awareness of all the Labour leadership candidates, although Keir Starmer starting in a stronger position

• Boris Johnson maintains a higher favourability rating than Jeremy Corbyn and any of the Labour leadership candidates at the moment.
• Public also more favourable towards the Conservative Party than to Labour, although Conservative ratings dip from immediate post-election measure.
• Public split on whether the country is moving in the right direction

Leader favourability ratings

• Boris Johnson maintains a higher favourability score than Jeremy Corbyn. Just under two in five (37%) have a favourable opinion of the Prime Minister (no change from December) while 45% have an unfavourable opinion (up 4 points)
• One in five (20%) say they have a favourable opinion of Jeremy Corbyn which has changed little from December (up 1 point). Two in three (66%) say they have an unfavourable opinion of the Labour leader (up 3 points).
• Eight in ten (79%) of Conservative voters in the 2019 General Election are favourable towards Boris Johnson, while 50% of 2019 Labour voters are favourable to Jeremy Corbyn.

Party favourability ratings

• As things stand the Conservative party has the highest favourability rating compared with Labour and the Liberal Democrats. A third (33%) say they have a favourable opinion of the Conservatives although this is slightly down from last month (down 6 points). Almost half (47%) say they have an unfavourable opinion the party (up 7 points).
• Just over a quarter (27%) say they have a favourable opinion of the Labour party (no change) while 54% say they have an unfavourable opinion (also no change). Eighteen percent have a favourable opinion of the Liberal Democrats (down 1 points) while half (50%) have an unfavourable opinion. 

Labour leadership race

• Few Britons claim to know much about any of the Labour leadership contenders. Almost a quarter (24%) say they know a great deal or fair amount about Keir Starmer (70% say they don’t know very much about him or anything at all) compared with 19% who say the same about Rebecca Long-Bailey (76% don’t know very much or anything), 21% Emily Thornberry (72% don’t know very much or anything), and 13% Lisa Nandy (80% don’t know very much or anything).
• Among 2019 Labour voters awareness is slightly higher, at 34% for Starmer, 27% for Thornberry, 23% for Long-Bailey, and 19% for Nandy. 
• Reflecting low awareness, none of the candidates have strong favourability scores at this stage.  Keir Starmer is the most favourable candidate amongst the public overall with 23% saying they have a favourable opinion of him (18% unfavourable) compared with 16% for Lisa Nandy (17% unfavourable), 15% for Emily Thornberry (26% unfavourable) and 13% for Rebecca Long-Bailey (29% unfavourable).

• Among those who do know a great deal or fair amount about the candidates (although bases sizes are small), each contender’s favourability rating goes up, especially for Keir Starmer and Lisa Nandy. Six in ten (61%) of those who say they know at least a fair amount about Keir Starmer are favourable towards him (19% unfavourable), as are 60% towards Lisa Nandy (17% unfavourable).  The effect, while still positive, is weaker for Rebecca Long-Bailey (39% favourable, 44% unfavourable among those who know a fair amount about her) and Emily Thornberry (35% favourable, 42% unfavourable).
• When it comes to 2019 Labour voters, Keir Starmer again has the most favourable scores. Two in five (39%) are favourable to him (10% unfavourable), while a quarter (24%) feel favourable towards the others: 24% for Lisa Nandy (10% unfavourable), 24% for Rebecca Long-Bailey (21% unfavourable), and 23% for Emily Thornberry (17% unfavourable).

Britain’s direction

• More believe Britain is moving in the wrong direction (43%) than those who think it is moving in the right direction (37%).
• Conservative and Leave voters are amongst those who are the most positive. Three-quarters (73%) of 2019 Conservative voters say the country is moving in the right direction, compared with just 15% of Labour voters. Two-thirds (64%) of Leave voters say the country is moving in the right direction, compared with 15% of Remain voters.

Commenting on the findings, Ipsos Research Director, Gideon Skinner said:

While it is Labour members who have the vote on the Labour leadership contenders, that doesn’t mean that the views of the wider public have no relevance in the debate.  These figures show that all the candidates still have some way to go to build up a public profile, although Keir Starmer is starting in the strongest position (particularly among Remainers and 2019 Labour voters).  Whoever wins, it will be important to quickly build a more positive public profile, so that as voters become more aware of them, their first impressions are positive.  They will also have to overcome a situation where the Conservative Party is currently viewed more favourably than Labour, and where Boris Johnson has better ratings than any of them at the moment, even while there are concerns about the direction the country is moving in.

Technical note

Ipsos interviewed a representative sample of 1,142 British adults. Interviews were conducted online: 28th – 29th January, 2020.  Data are weighted to match the profile of the population. All polls are subject to a wide range of potential sources of error.