More than half of people think Britain is ‘moving in wrong direction’ in blow to Starmer

Sir Keir Starmer’s approval ratings have dropped from plus 7 to 0 but he is still more popular than Rishi Sunak

More than half of people think Britain is “moving in the wrong direction”, according to a new poll that shows a drop in favourability of Sir Keir Starmer and his cabinet.

The poll by Ipsos, which was conducted between 9-12 August, shows that people still prefer Labour leaders to Conservative ones but that there has been an increase in criticism of the new government.

Fifty-two per cent of adults polled said that they thought Britain was heading in the wrong direction, while 22 per cent said things were heading in the right direction.

Sir Keir remains the most popular politician asked about, with 38 per cent of people thinking of him favourably compared to 38 per cent unfavourably.

This is however a drop compared to his ratings just after the election. His net favourability rating has now gone from plus 7 to 0.

Conservative leader Rishi Sunak is on a net rating of minus 10.

Prime minister Sir Keir Starmer has had to deal with riots across the country since taking office (PA Wire)

Deputy prime minister Angela Rayner has also seen a slightly dip in popularity. 33 per cent of people said they were favourable towards her, while 36 per cent said they were unfavourable.

This has also been the case for home secretary Yvette Cooper and chancellor Rachel Reeves. 35 per cent of people think unfavourably towards Ms Reeves, and 33 per cent towards Ms Cooper.

Gideon Skinner, senior director of UK politics at Ipsos, said Labour and Sir Keir are “still enjoying a moderate honeymoon period”.

He said: “The public feel somewhat more positively towards them than they did before the election was called, they are more popular than their main opponents, and their ratings are above the equivalent figures for Boris Johnson and the Conservatives two months after their 2019 victory, and above the two months after Rishi Sunak became PM.

Rachel Reeves has also seen her approval ratings drop since the election (PA Wire)

“But Labour’s ratings are not impregnable (for example, Boris Johnson benefited from a bigger halo effect at the start of the Covid pandemic).

“There are signs of a small increase in public criticism of Labour, the prime minister and other key cabinet ministers this month, but just as important for their longer-term prospects is the level of pessimism around the state of the country.

“This is not as bad as it was under the Conservatives, but half of Britons still think things are going in the wrong direction, and delivering on the public’s desire for improvements will be key when the honeymoon period ends.”

Hits to perception were seen on the opposition benches for the Liberal Democrats and party leader Sir Ed Davey.

Deputy prime minister Angela Rayner has a slightly higher unfavourability rating than the chancellor or home secretary (PA Wire)

Some 22 per cent said they were favourable towards Sir Ed, down from 29 per cent in the week following the election, while 31 per cent said they were unfavourable towards him compared with 26 per cent in July.

Likewise, 24 per cent said they were favourable towards the Liberal Democrats and 34 per cent unfavourable.

Ratings for Nigel Farage remain broadly in line with those taken in July, while Reform UK sees a marginal slip. Some 54 per cent reported being unfavourable to Mr Farage, similarly 54 per cent are unfavourable to Reform.

Ipsos interviewed a representative sample of 1,148 adults aged 18 and over across Britain between August 9-12.

Data is weighted to match the profile of the population. All polls are subject to a wide range of potential sources of error.