Nigel Farage is seen as the party leader who most understands the problems facing Great Britain

A new Ipsos Political Pulse survey, taken between 10th and 13th January, looks at public opinion towards several key political figures and issues facing the country.

Favourability towards politicians and parties

• Prime Minister Keir Starmer holds a net favourability rating of -27. 25% hold a favourable view (+1 from December) and 52% unfavourable (-1). 
• Rachel Reeves sits at -33, with half of Britons expressing an unfavourable view of the Chancellor of the Exchequer (50%, +3) and 17% favourable (-1). 
• Leader of the opposition Kemi Badenoch holds a rating of -30, with 16% favourable (-4 from December) and 46% unfavourable (+1). 
• Reform UK leader Nigel Farage holds a net favourability rating of -25, while Reform MP Rupert Lowe, who Elon Musk recently advocated should replace Farage as leader, holds a net approval rating of -27.  
• However, Farage is better known and the public are more likely to have an opinion one way or another. 26% are favourable towards Farage and 51% unfavourable but for Lowe 14% are favourable and 41% unfavourable.In addition, Reform UK voters are more likely to have a favourable opinion towards Farage than Lowe, with 84% expressing a favourable opinion of Farage versus 54% for Lowe. 
• Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey holds the highest net favourability rating of any politician surveyed at -2. 25% are favourable and 27% unfavourable with almost half no opinion or saying don’t know.

• The Labour Party holds a net favourability rating of -21 (N/C), with Reform UK close behind at -22 (-2.5). 29% are favourable towards Labour (+2 from Dec) and 50% unfavourable (+2). 27% are favourable towards Reform (-2), 49% unfavourable (+3).
• The Conservative party holds the lowest net favourability rating of any party polled at -37. Just two in ten express a favourable view of the party (20%, nc), with 57% expressing an unfavourable view (+3). 
• The Liberal Democrats sit at -4, with 26% (+2) expressing a favourable view and 30% unfavourable (-5). 
• The Green party has the highest net favourability rating at -1, with 28% favourable (nc) and 29% unfavourable (-1).

Perceptions of party leaders 

Elsewhere in the poll, people were asked whether a list of attributes applied to party leaders in Great Britain.  

• 36% of Britons believe that Keir Starmer understands the problems facing Britain, -18 ppt from when he took office in July 2024. 
• 27% think that he has a plan to make the country a better place, -23 ppt from last July. 
• Only 22% think he has a lot of personality (-10). Trust in his ability to get the big decisions right stands at 23% (-16).

• Nigel Farage is seen as the party leader who most understands the problems facing Great Britain (41%). Over half (54%) see him as having a lot of personality, while 41% perceive him to be a strong leader. 
• 27% say that Farage shares my values, followed closely by Starmer at 25% and Ed Davey at 24%.  
• Ed Davey is seen as the most honest (37%) and in touch with ordinary people (36%) of the party leaders – with Farage on 35%. 
• Kemi Badenoch polls the lowest of the party leaders in every attribute polled other than having a lot of personality, where she is 2 pts ahead of Starmer (24% to 22%).

Government performance 

• A significant majority (62%) of Britons believe the country is heading in the wrong direction. 16% say right direction. Scores are now near identical to just before the General Election (18% right direction, 62% wrong direction). In July – just after – they had been 25% right and 49% wrong.
• When asked to score the government’s performance on a scale of 1-10, the mean score overall is 3.7. This rises to 5.0 among Britons aged 18-34, while those aged 55+ score the government lowest at 2.8. 
• Those who voted Labour score the government highest at 5.6, followed by Liberal Democrat voters at 4.3. Conservative voters give the government 2 out of 10, while Reform UK voters rate it just 1.4.

Keiran Pedley, Director of UK Politics at Ipsos said:

Our latest Ipsos Political Pulse reveals a complex and challenging political landscape.  Public sentiment towards the government and leading political figures remains largely negative, marked by widespread dissatisfaction about the direction of the country.  Interestingly, Nigel Farage stands out as the party leader with the most distinct brand in terms of understanding the problems facing Britain, projecting strength and having a strong personality. Though it should be noted the public are roughly twice as likely to have a negative opinion of him as positive too.

Technical note: 

• Ipsos interviewed a representative sample of 1,139 adults aged 18+ across Great Britain. Interviews were conducted online between the 10th-13th January 2025. 
• Data are weighted to match the profile of the population. All polls are subject to a wide range of potential sources of error.