Sir Keir Starmer’s approval rating has hit an all time low, with voters blaming him for the chaotic £5bn U-turn on his benefit cuts.
The prime minister’s support among the public reached fresh depths after the climbdown and in the wake of Rachel Reeves being seen crying in the Commons, a new poll shows.
Conducted in the hours after Wednesday’s PMQs, the More in Common survey found Sir Keir’s approval rating at -43.
The poll, first reported by The Sunday Times, also found that just a year after coming to power, seven in 10 voters think Sir Keir’s government is at least as chaotic as the Tories’ previous term.
That includes one in three voters, who believe it is more so.
More in Common’s UK director Luke Tryl said: “It is an unhappy birthday for the prime minister, his personal approval has hit an all time low, while Britons blame him rather than his chancellor for the welfare mess and think he has lost control of his party.”
Mr Tryl said the “big winner” from the government’s failings is Reform UK. “Although we are a long way from an election and much will change, Nigel Farage’s Party are demonstrating that they are now close to the level where they could command an outright majority. Britain’s political landscape has transformed entirely from just a year ago,” Mr Tryl said.
More in Common’s poll found that Reform would emerge as the biggest party if an election were held tomorrow, winning 290 seats. Labour’s vote would collapse, falling from having won 412 seats last July to just 126. And the Conservatives would win just 81 seats, 40 fewer than at the last general election.
More in Common’s MRP, often dubbed a mega poll, showed that a majority of cabinet ministers would lose their seats as things stand.
Those whose seats are vulnerable include Angela Rayner, Reeves, Pat McFadden, Yvette Cooper, Wes Streeting, Bridget Phillipson, Ed Miliband and more.
The main reason voters gave for turning away from Labour was broken promises and U-turns on previous commitments, More in Common said.
More than a third said they were turning away from Labour due to the ongoing cost of living crisis, while more than a quarter said they had been put off Labour by the party’s cuts to winter fuel payments.
Labour has been haemorrhaging support to Mr Farage’s party, with Reform surging in May’s local elections, taking control of 10 councils and winning the Runcorn by-election.
The poll came after Sir Keir’s chancellor was warned she must raise taxes or put Labour’s agenda at risk.
Jim O’Neill, a former Goldman Sachs chief turned Treasury minister who quit the Conservatives and later advised Reeves, said she faces no choice but to abandon key parts of her economic policy – including her commitment not to raise income tax, national insurance contributions for employees or VAT.
“Without changing some of the big taxes, welfare and pensions, they [Labour] can’t commit to things like Northern Powerhouse Rail, small modular nuclear reactors, and various other things that will make an investment and growth difference,” he told The Independent.
