UK Starmer worst start of any new PM, says polling guru

[Social Media]

 

Starmer worst start of any new PM, says polling guru

 

Keir Starmer has endured what polling expert Professor Sir John Curtice describes as “the worst start for any newly elected prime minister, Labour or Conservative.” A year into office, the Labour leader finds himself under intense scrutiny, facing sliding poll numbers, policy reversals, and mounting questions about his direction and leadership.

 

Speaking to Times Radio, Curtice was blunt in his assessment. “Voters still don’t know what [Starmer] stands for,” he said. “He must paint a picture of the country he wants to create.” According to Curtice, Starmer's government has witnessed the steepest decline in public support for any newly elected British administration, with Labour currently polling at just 24 percent.

 

Starmer himself admitted to several missteps in a series of interviews reflecting on his first year. In an interview with The Sunday Times, he acknowledged being slow to grasp the intensity of public reaction to his government’s welfare reforms, attributing the lapse to a necessary focus on international affairs. “I take ownership of all my decisions,” he said.

 

He also expressed regret for using the phrase “island of strangers” during a speech on immigration, a term later criticized for echoing Enoch Powell’s notorious rhetoric on race and immigration. “I wouldn’t have gone near it if I had known,” Starmer said. “I didn’t know that was used by Powell. If I’d known that, I would never have said it.”

 

While the prime minister has sought to own up to his mistakes, his leadership has faced renewed questions, particularly after being forced into three policy U-turns in two months. Curtice noted, “Apologies rarely help. U-turns can suggest a lack of direction, which is already one of this government’s biggest problems.”

 

Dissent is also bubbling within Starmer’s party. The Telegraph reported that more than 40 MPs may push to soften policies such as the inheritance tax for farmers and the controversial two-child benefit cap. Despite this, Health Secretary Wes Streeting has come to Starmer’s defense, praising his willingness to admit fault. “I admire a leader who has the courage and humility to admit that he’s not perfect and that his government’s made mistakes,” Streeting told the BBC. “By the prime minister’s own admission, I think there are things that we haven’t got entirely right in government.”

 

Streeting also highlighted Starmer’s international achievements, noting his efforts to “bridge Europe and America to tackle conflict” and his role in brokering trade deals that have “literally saved thousands of jobs.” He added that public service reform and anti-poverty measures were already under way, though he acknowledged the public's skepticism. “Until people start feeling that change I don’t expect the public to give the prime minister, me or anyone else a pat on the back for a job well done.”

 

Speculation around a future leadership contest is simmering, with both Streeting and Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner often named as potential successors. Streeting, however, dismissed such talk as “mischief making.” “The fact is that we have got in Keir Starmer a prime minister who is delivering real change in our country,” he told Sky News.

 

Rayner also denied any leadership ambitions. Yet, according to The Mail on Sunday, some of her allies believe she could be the next Labour leader. One ally reportedly said, “I think Angela will be the leader. After next year’s Welsh and local elections, if Starmer does not stand down, he will face a challenge. People have just had enough and Keir is gravely wounded.” Others close to Rayner, however, insist she remains focused on her current government duties.

 

As Starmer enters his second year in office, the pressure is mounting not just to hold the party together, but to define clearly what his leadership means — and where it is headed.

 

  Adapted by ASEAN Now from The Times  2025-07-01

 

 

[The Cyclist]

3 hours ago, Social Media said:

As Starmer enters his second year in office, the pressure is mounting not just to hold the party together, but to define clearly what his leadership means — and where it is headed.

 

As he cannot define what a woman is, there is not a snowballs chance in hell he can define what his Leadership is.

 

It is an embarrassment to use his name and Leadership in the same sentence. He is nothing but a talking puppet.

[JonnyF]

He needs to go.

 

I kind of hope he doesn't though. He is doing enormous damage to the Labour party and we could end up with Rayner as PM donning a pink shellsuit, huge gold earrings and smoking a Lambert & Butler at PMQ's.

 

[brewsterbudgen]

23 minutes ago, JonnyF said:

He needs to go.

 

I kind of hope he doesn't though. He is doing enormous damage to the Labour party and we could end up with Rayner as PM donning a pink shellsuit, huge gold earrings and smoking a Lambert & Butler at PMQ's.

 

 

Like you, I am disappointed about much of Starmer's first year, but unlike you I'd quite like to see Rayner taking over.  However, I don't think it will happen, unless the polls are still bad in 2027/2028.

[quake]

This guy has some views on the present  government and past ones.

Worth a watch. 

 

 

[brewsterbudgen]

3 minutes ago, quake said:

This guy has some views on the present  government and past ones.

Worth a watch. 

 

 

 

A failed UKIP politician?  No thanks.

[lamyai3]

5 hours ago, Social Media said:

Keir Starmer has endured what polling expert Professor Sir John Curtice describes as “the worst start for any newly elected prime minister, Labour or Conservative.”

 

Lettuce not forget Liz Truss...

[brewsterbudgen]

20 minutes ago, lamyai3 said:

 

Lettuce not forget Liz Truss...

Good point!  Actually Mrs Thatcher was also extremely unpopular in the immediate years after 1979, and look what happened to her!  Is Starmer another Thatcher?  Maybe a good war will bail him out too!