Starmer's ratings plummet as Farage extends his lead - London Business News | Londonlovesbusiness.com

"Hot off the heels of a comparatively upbeat Labour Party Conference, the latest polling from Opinium shows Labour leader Keir Starmer's approval rating continuing to slide, with a net rating of -44 (-3). Starmer still trails Reform leader Nigel Farage as preferred Prime Minister, with Farage extending his lead over Starmer to five points (31% vs 26%), up three points over the Labour Conference week. A third of voters (33%) preferred neither leader."

"More voters viewed Starmer's Conference speech negatively (34%) than positively (23%). But Labour voters were more supportive of the speech, with 45% saying Starmer had done a good job, compared to 19% who held a negative view. Across a range of metrics, perceptions of Labour worsened over its Conference week. The party dropped five points on the public's view of whether they "have similar views to my own" (net -34) and four points on "representing what most people think" (net -38)."

"More voters see Nigel Farage as optimistic (39%) about Britain's future than Keir Starmer (32%). However, the same proportion of voters (39%) see Farage as pessimistic about the future. Over half (55%) say Nigel Farage emphasises Britain's problems and challenges, compared to only 17% who say he focuses on positives & strengths. Nearly half (47%) say his language increases community tensions, compared to a third (33%) who say he describes issues fairly as he sees them."

Keir Starmer's approval rating continues to slide, holding a net rating of -44. Nigel Farage leads as preferred Prime Minister by five points (31% vs 26%), with 33% preferring neither. Half of voters said Labour had a bad week (50%) while 20% said it had a good week; 2024 Labour voters were split 37% bad versus 39% good. Starmer's Conference speech received more negative (34%) than positive (23%) views overall, though 45% of Labour voters rated it positively. Public perceptions worsened on shared views (net -34) and representing most people (net -38). Majorities say Labour fails to rebuild trust (65%), offer hope (61%), or present a competent government (59%).

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