Keir Starmer's personal rating slides to lowest ever level as Labour conference kicks off
PM Keir Starmer's personal approval rating now stands at -26 and is one point lower than the ex-Tory PM Rishi Sunak, whose own rating is -25, according to pollsters Opinium.
by Ashley Cowburn · The MirrorKeir Starmer's personal approval rating has plummeted to its lowest ever level - just as the Labour party conference kicks off.
His net rating now stands at -26 and is one point lower than the ex-Tory PM Rishi Sunak, whose own rating is -25, according to pollsters Opinium. It comes amid a gloomy start for the new Labour government over a mounting backlash on cutting winter fuel payments for pensioners and rows over freebies and donors.
When he entered No10 as Prime Minister in July, Mr Starmer had an approval rating of +19. But Opinium's latest survey shows his approval rating has dropped to -26 and is down 13 points from just a fortnight ago. The poll also shows almost half (45%) of voters have a more negative view of Mr Starmer and Labour since they came to office.
In grim reading for the PM, who has braced the country for a "painful" Budget next month, just 27% of those asked said the new government's first months as a success.
But Labour continues to lead the Conservatives on voters' priorities, including the NHS, education, public services, housing and inequality, the poll shows. Mr Starmer, who arrived in Liverpool on Saturday for the start of the party's first conference in government for 15 years, has previously defended making unpopular decisions.
But speaking to The Mirror, the PM said he would give the public hope for a "changed Britain" after gloomy warnings in recent weeks talking about tough choices to come. Asked if he could promise there would be no more austerity, he said: “Yes. Austerity did us a huge amount of damage.
"I was running a public service when the Coalition Government went down the austerity route. It did a huge amount of damage to our public services and we are still feeling the damage even now. So we are not going down the road of austerity.”