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Half of Labour voters disappointed by Starmer

Keir Starmer (Credit: Getty images)

All is not well with the Labour lot just now – and the party’s supporters are rather unimpressed. Polling from YouGov conducted between 4-6 October has found that almost half of those who backed Sir Keir Starmer’s crowd at the July election had been disappointed by the performance of the party. Oo er. It’s hardly the best start to the job, eh?

Some 47 per cent of 2024 Labour voters had expected the party to do well but have felt let down so far. On the other hand, less than a third of Labour voters thought Sir Keir’s party had performed well so far. Four per cent said they had thought the party would do poorly and believe that has been the case, while six per cent admitted they thought Labour would do badly, but that things had been better than they’d expected. Crikey. Just how badly did they envisage things going?

Just weeks ago, polling by Opinium revealed that the Prime Minister’s approval rating dropped down to -26 since Sir Keir became the country’s leader. It made him – by a point – less popular than former PM Rishi Sunak which, er, after his party’s electoral defeat just three months ago says quite something.

This latest survey comes ahead of the Starmer's 100 days in power, which will be marked this weekend, and after a number of scandals that have rocked his premiership. From the freebie fiasco to cronyism rows to frockgate and even the Sue Gray-Morgan McSweeney palaver, the PM has hardly had an easy time of it. And if this is what three months brings, Mr S dreads to think how the next five years will go...

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Steerpike is The Spectator's gossip columnist, serving up the latest tittle tattle from Westminster and beyond. Email tips to steerpike@spectator.co.uk or message @MrSteerpike

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