Despite returning to power 12 months ago, it’s fair to say that this Labour government has failed to keep the general public onside. Opinion polls show the ruling party now flagging behind Reform, and in some cases, trailing their General Election results by more than 10 points.
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Who’s winning the political popularity contest? Frontbench falls flat…
With their popularity slumping, it also appears that no senior individuals within the Cabinet are bucking the trend. Data from YouGov shows that Keir Starmer (-44), Angela Rayner (-32), Yvette Cooper (-22), Rachel Reeves (-45), and Wes Streeting (-19) all have negative favourability ratings.
It perhaps sums up the state of British politics at the moment, but leading figures from other parties also fail to score positively. The likes of Ed Davey, Richard Tice, Mel Stride, and Carla Denyer all have net-negative scores. Nigel Farage stands on -31, with Kemi Badenoch languishing on -45.
Pain for Cabinet members and opposition party leaders
The survey does, however, show one exception to the rule. Andy Burnham – the Mayor of Greater Manchester – is the only politician to emerge with a positive favourability rating, and banks a +7 with all votes counted. YouGov also noted that a net-positive score is something of a ‘rarity’ these days…
“One Labour figure who is relatively popular is Andy Burnham. A third of Britons (32%) have a favourable opinion of the Mayor of Greater Manchester, while just a quarter (25%) see him unfavourably, giving the two-time party leadership candidate a rare net positive rating.” | YouGov
Why is Andy Burnham outscoring the lot?
Burnham has earned plaudits for overhauling the public transport system in Greater Manchester, by bringing the bus network into public ownership. He has also called for the full nationalisation of UK train services, and has strongly condemned the damage caused by Brexit.
Interestingly, Mr. Burnham also a favourite among the over 65s…
The favourite to replace Keir Starmer? Andy Burnham sees stock rise
Another pollster, in the form of Ipsos, also came back with some favourable figures for Andy Burnham. When respondents were asked who would be the best Labour leader, the mayor topped the survey, eking out a 1% lead over Keir Starmer. He is also the public’s favourite to replace Sir Keir…