Voters now prefer Ed Davey to Starmer, poll shows
Voters now prefer Sir Ed Davey, the Liberal Democrat leader, to Sir Keir Starmer, a poll has found.
The results of the YouGov survey, published on Friday, revealed that the Prime Minister's popularity had fallen to its lowest-ever level following a series of controversies, including decisions to cut benefits and raise taxes.
The poll, of 2,171 adults, found the Labour leader had a net favourability rating of -46.
Some 69 per cent of respondents said they had an unfavourable view of Sir Keir, while 23 per cent had a positive opinion.
The Prime Minister's popularity ratings have, on average, been steadily declining since last year's general election, although he did receive a poll boost after visiting Donald Trump, the US president, at the White House in February.
Sir Ed, who has led the Lib Dems since 2020, is now more popular with a net favourability rating of -8, while Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative Party leader, had a rating of -39.
Nigel Farage scored -27. The poll found 32 per cent of voters had a positive opinion of the Reform UK leader, while 59 per cent said they did not.
The numbers will make grim reading for Downing Street, with the Prime Minister and his team still reeling from a series of disastrous results for Labour in the local elections earlier this month.
The poll also found that just 59 per cent of people who voted Labour last July now have a positive opinion of the party, down seven points in the last month. Even fewer Labour voters have a favourable view of Sir Keir.
Angela Rayner, the Deputy Prime Minister, and Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary, also recorded their worst-ever approval ratings in the survey.
YouGov said the Tories were also struggling to maintain support, with just 71 per cent of 2024 Tory voters saying they had a positive view of the party.
In contrast, 84 per cent of Lib Dem voters and 94 per cent of Reform voters said they still had a favourable view of the parties.
Both made gains at the expense of Labour and the Conservatives in May's local elections. Reform picked up ten councils and a new MP, while Labour lost the only council it controlled in the regions where voting took place.
Earlier this week, Electoral Calculus, a polling firm, published research that suggested Labour would lose 59 MPs to Reform if a general election was held in the same areas.
The YouGov poll also found that, excluding Reform voters, Mr Farage is most popular with 2024 Conservative voters, with a net favourability rating of +5.
A Lib Dem source said: 'Ed's the only party leader with a plan to fix health and social care and the only leader saying we should stand up to Donald Trump.
'When Westminster is full of politicians cosying up to Elon Musk from the Reform bench – or trying to take away your winter fuel payment from their office in Downing Street – it's no wonder Ed's bests both Farage and the PM when it comes to popularity.'
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