Sir Keir Starmer’s poll rating for sound judgement drops

Sir Keir Starmer’s leadership was under fresh scrutiny on Friday as a new poll showed his ratings for sound judgement and being good in a crisis dropping.

The Ipsos survey for The Standard, though, also found that just nine per cent of adults in Britain believe Boris Johnson is more honest than most politicians, with his score also down for having a lot of personality, but up on being good in a crisis.

Comparing the two leaders, Sir Keir is more likely than Mr Johnson to be seen as a capable leader (32 per cent v 26 per cent), having sound judgement (31 per cent v 17 per cent), understanding Britain’s problems (41 per cent to 29 per cent), more honest than most politicians (31 per cent to nine per cent), good representative of Britain on the world stage (29 per cent to 21 per cent), and less likely to be viewed as out of touch (35 per cent to 64 per cent) or being more style over substance (25 per cent to 37 per cent).

However, the Prime Minister is more likely to be seen as good in a crisis (31 per cent to 19 per cent), having a lot of personality (48 per cent to 15 per cent), and being patriotic (48 per cent to 39 per cent).

Generally, though, the poll which was carried out shortly after the local elections, during which the Tories lost nearly 500 council seats, and within days of Sir Keir saying he will resign if he is fined for breaching Covid laws over “beergate”, makes grim reading for both leaders.

Key findings now for Sir Keir, compared to December, include:

• 31 per cent believe he has sound judgement, down from 38 per cent.

• 19 per cent say he is good in a crisis, down slightly from 23 per cent.

• Just under a third (31 per cent) say he is more honest than most politicians, down from 36 per cent.

• 41 per cent believe he understands the problems facing Britain, down from 46 per cent.

• 39 per cent think he is patriotic, compared to 45 per cent.

• 29 per cent say he is a good representative for Britain on the world stage, down from 34 per cent.

Overall, 48 per cent of adults say they are dissatisfied with Sir Keir, and 31 per cent satisfied, giving him a net satisfaction score of -17, compared to -14 in April.

Among Labour supporters his net satisfaction had gone up slightly from +24 to +28.

Mr Johnson can boast greater backing from Conservative voters, with net satisfaction of +43, compared to +45 last month.

However, among the general public, 64 per cent say they are dissatisfied and just 28 per cent satisfied, a net score of -36, down from -33.

Other findings, compared to December unless stated, for Mr Johnson include:

• Just nine per cent say he is more honest than most politicians, down from 18 per cent.

• Three in ten people (29 per cent) think he understands the problems facing Britain, compared to 34 per cent.

• For the first time since he became Prime Minister in the summer of 2019, the proportion who believe he has a lot of personality has dropped below 60 per cent, to 48 per cent.

• His score on being patriotic is 48 per cent, having been between 59 per cent (December) and 68 per cent over the last three years.

• 31 per cent say he is good in a crisis, up from 26 per cent.

• 37 per cent describe him as more style than substance, down from 45 per cent.

Gideon Skinner, Head of Political Research at Ipsos, said: “Neither party leader has a very strong image among the public at the moment, as both have satisfaction scores slightly below the average for a Prime Minister and Opposition Leader at this stage. “On more detailed leadership attributes, while it is not unusual for a PM to be viewed as out of touch, Boris Johnson’s ratings on key metrics such as being a capable leader, good in a crisis, having sound judgement and understanding Britain’s problems are all lower than we saw for David Cameron and Theresa May, and views on whether he is more honest than most politicians have taken another fall.

“Keir Starmer, meanwhile, is not really breaking out of the range set by Ed Miliband and Jeremy Corbyn. However, despite that the Labour leader does lead his Conservative opponent on being seen as a capable leader and having sound judgement, which means he has an advantage that they didn’t have.”

After the Liberal Democrats had the most successful local elections, 27 per cent of adults say they are satisfied with party leader Sir Ed Davey, and 25 per cent dissatisfied, a net score of +2, up from -5 in April, but still 48 per cent saying “don’t know”.

More than half of Britons (55 per cent) back the Government’s handling of the Ukraine conflict, with 32 per cent dissatisfied, slightly worse figures than in April.

* Ipsos interviewed 1,013 adults in Britain between May 11 and 17. Data are weighted