Keir Starmer was never as popular with the public as he was in the early months of 2020, when he had just become Labor leader and not many people knew about him. His popularity saw only a slight increase – from a favorable 29 percent to 38 percent – when the Conservatives committed public opinion suicide by elevating Liz Truss. But Starmer continued to experience more people liking him than disliking him until the 2024 general election.
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Starmer was inoffensive at best. He was not Jeremy Corbyn, who forced many voters to turn against Labour. The 2024 landslide was built by voters in conservative areas who stayed home.
Today, however, the share of Britons who like him is only a few points above that of Liz Truss after the economy crashed. On his 670th day in charge, Starmer stands as the least liked of all the recent Prime Ministers to come this far: At the same distance in their respective prime ministerships, he is five points below Rishi Sunak, 20 below Boris Johnson, 15 below Theresa May, 21 below David Cameron and even nine points below Gordon Brown.
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There will be sympathetic tributes in the coming days, but the truth is that almost no member of the public has a kind word to say about Starmer. As of June, only 15 percent of voters think he can speak for the nation. For every voter who agrees he is a strong leader, there is one who doesn’t know and nearly four who disagree.
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This is the public’s verdict on Starmer’s six years. For the story of how his time in Downing Street fell apart, read Ethan Croft Timeline: How Starmer lost control.
(Further reading: Thanks, Keir Starmer, next)
