Labour poll lead over Tories slashed to one point

Freebies row, Sue Gray downfall and Budget delay see Starmer ratings tumble

Labour’s polling lead has fallen to just one point after a rocky start to Sir Keir Starmer’s time in government.

The latest polling comes despite the prime minister attempting to draw a line under the disorder by accepting the resignation of his chief of staff Sue Gray.

The survey, conducted by More in Common for Politico, put Labour on 29 per cent and the Conservative Party on 28 per cent.

Reform UK was on 19 per cent, while the Lib Dems were on 11 per cent. The Green Party was at seven per cent, while the SNP was on two per cent.

Ahead of the election, Labour was consistently polling around 20 points ahead of the Tories (EPA)

It marks a drastic shift in support in the three months since the election, which saw Sir Keir’s party consistently polling around 20 points head of the Conservatives, paving the way for a landslide victory.

The survey follows weeks of infighting after Labour won its historic victory, coupled with questions over gifts for the prime minister and senior cabinet ministers, and fears the government has lost control of its own agenda.

Sir Keir has already attempted to reset the agenda three times with announcements about restricting gifts in the future and paying back some of them. But the growing criticism of his administration culminated in the prime minister being forced to reset his top team on Sunday.

The move is part of a wider backroom reshuffle after some private criticism by ministers of the way the communications strategy was being run.

Morgan McSweeney was appointed the new chief of staff, and James Lyons, a former Mirror journalist working as director of communications for the NHS, will head up a new strategic communications team. Vidhya Alakeson and Jill Cuthbertson will be deputy chiefs of staff.

On Monday, Alastair Campbell, who was Tony Blair’s communications chief in No 10, denied that the current situation is a “complete irrecoverable shambles”, but told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “You cannot make too many missteps in government.”

John McTernan, who was Sir Tony’s political secretary, also criticised Sir Keir’s administration, saying the government has “completely lost grip”, warning it is “delivering drift” rather than change.

Asked on Monday whether he thinks the first 100 days of government have been a success, the prime minister’s official spokesperson said: “It’s up to the public to decide whether the first 100 days of the government have been a success.”

Foreign secretary David Lammy defended the government’s record, saying: “I’m very pleased that over these 100 days, we’ve been able to speed up our support to Ukraine.

“I’m very pleased that we’ve been able to move forward with the establishment of GB Energy, that my colleague Wes Streeting has been able to settle the dispute with junior doctors and get on with the business of turning around our National Health Service.”

The polling, conducted between 5 and 7 October, spoke 2,023 British adults.

The Labour Party has been contacted for comment.