Nigel Farage extends his lead over Keir Starmer on being seen as ‘in touch with ordinary people’

New research from Ipsos in the UK shows that Nigel Farage (45%) beats Keir Starmer (26%) by 19 points among the public on being seen as ‘in touch with ordinary people’. Farage has improved by 10 points on this measure since January (35%), with Keir Starmer staying on the same score (26%). Farage is deemed more likely than the public to have positive personality traits than Starmer (and Kemi Badenoch) in the majority of categories tested, including:

• Understands the problems facing Great Britain: Farage (46%), Starmer (36%), Badenoch (30%)
• A strong leader: Farage (41%), Starmer (26%), Badenoch (22%)
• A capable leader: Farage (37%), Starmer (31%), Badenoch (25%)
• Shares my values: Farage (34%), Starmer (24%), Badenoch (22%)
• Has the right plans for Britain: Farage (35%), Starmer (28%), Badenoch (23%)

Starmer is seen as more of an honest person (33%) than Farage (29%) or Badenoch (27%), and the prime minister also ties (26%) with Farage (27%) on being seen as good in a crisis.

Futures of Rachel Reeves and Keir Starmer

Elsewhere, the poll finds that just one in four (25%) British adults say they think it is likely that Rachel Reeves will still be Chancellor by the time of the next general election. Less than half (42%) of 2024 Labour voters think it’s likely she will still be in role by the next election.

Less than two in five (38%) of British adults say they think it’s likely that Keir Starmer will still be Prime Minister by the next election, while only one in three (33%) say it’s likely Kemi Badenoch will still be leader of the Conservative Party by the next election. Nigel Farage is the leader most likely (65%) to be seen by the public as still being in his role as leader of Reform UK by the next election.

Commenting on the findings, Keiran Pedley, Director of UK Politics at Ipsos said:

Ipsos are yet to see Nigel Farage lead Keir Starmer in terms of who the public would prefer to be Prime Minister. And yet, there is evidence that Farage leads Starmer on key measures such as being seen as in touch, sharing my values and being a strong leader. Time will tell whether Farage can convert this sentiment into a prevailing sense he is the public’s preferred occupant of Number 10.