No significant change in Angela Rayner’s favourability ratings amidst ongoing tax row

• 25% are favourable towards Angela Rayner this April, with 37% unfavourable - unchanged from March.
• For comparison, 21% are favourable towards Rishi Sunak and 56% are unfavourable.

The latest Ipsos Political Pulse, taken 19th to 21st April 2024 explores public attitudes towards political parties and leading politicians.

Favourability towards politicians

• Deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner’s favourability ratings do not appear to have been significantly impacted by recent controversies over her tax affairs. This April she received ratings of 37% unfavourable and 25% favourable (Net -12). Figures are identical to those recorded last month. 
• Rayner’s most recent ratings before the story broke were 27% favourable and 35% unfavourable (Net -8, November 2023). 

• Angela Rayner is, however, something of a polarising figure. Of 6 leading Labour Shadow Cabinet Ministers, she is joint most popular with Labour voters and joint least popular with 2019 Conservative voters (though awareness of each politicians is likely a contributing factor).
  • % of 2019 Labour voters favourable: Keir Starmer 56%, Angela Rayner 54%, Rachel Reeves 45%, Yvette Cooper 45%, Wes Streeting 30%, David Lammy 29%
  • % of 2019 Conservatives unfavourable: Starmer 62%, Rayner 62%, Cooper 48%, Reeves 44%, Lammy 44%, Streeting 36%.
• Meanwhile, 56% are unfavourable towards Prime Minister Rishi Sunak this month, with 21% favourable. This is similar to those recorded in March, which represented the lowest of this parliament (57% unfavourable, 19% favourable). 

• 28% are favourable towards Labour leader Keir Starmer and 41% are unfavourable. Figures are similar to last month’s 29% favourable and 42% unfavourable. His net rating of -13 today being similar to the -12 recorded in November.
• Favourability figures for other leading politicians can be found below:

Favourability towards parties 

• 56% are unfavourable towards the Conservative Party this month and 19% are favourable. This is similar to figures recorded in March (58% unfavourable and 19% favourable), which represented the worst favourable scores this parliament. 

• Conversely, 38% are unfavourable towards the Labour party and 34% are favourable. This net rating of -4 is similar to the -7 recorded in March. Favourability towards other parties can be found below.

Elsewhere in the poll:

• 62% think things in Britain are heading in the wrong direction. 
• 53% think Brexit has had a negative impact on the country, 21% think it has had a positive impact and 20% say no difference. Figures are consistent since the start of last year.

Keiran Pedley, UK Director of Politics at Ipsos said:

Angela Rayner’s favourability ratings do not appear to have been significantly impacted by ongoing media coverage of her tax affairs. Her ratings are unchanged from a month ago and not significantly worse than where they were 6 months ago before the story broke. A period during which Rishi Sunak’s much worse favourability ratings have fallen further.  

Technical note

Ipsos interviewed a representative sample of 1,050 adults aged 18+ across Great Britain. Interviews were conducted by telephone between the 19th and 21st April 2024. Data are weighted to match the profile of the population. All polls are subject to a wide range of potential sources of error.