Oh dear. It seems that all Keir Starmer’s talk of an ‘island of strangers’ really wasn’t worth it. For a new poll for The Spectator by Ipsos shows that faith in the Prime Minister has not improved after his big speech on borders earlier this month. Just 25 per cent of the public now trust him to ‘have the right immigration policies’ – a six point drop for Labour since January 2024, the last time Ipsos asked this question. Reform, meanwhile, stayed consistent, with 37 per cent of the public backing them on this question. Looks like office isn’t everything…
Fieldwork for the new poll was conducted from the 16th to 20th of May, following the government’s immigration White Paper. It found that Reform UK enjoys the highest level of trust when it comes to having the right immigration policies (37 per cent), handling migrant crossings of the English Channel (39 per cent), and making illegal entry more difficult (42 per cent). Around 1 in 4 trust Labour and the Liberal Democrats on these issues, while the Tories rank last on all three measures. Starmer’s party has dropped three points on handling Channel crossings over the past 17 months – a trend only likely to continue as small boats arrive over this summer.
Nigel Farage is – unsurprisingly – the most trusted political leader on immigration policies (28 per cent), followed some way behind by Starmer on 15 per cent. A third of British adults (33 per cent) meanwhile disapprove of Yvette Cooper's performance, while 17 per cent approve. These figures are slightly better than James Cleverly’s in January 2024 – though they are in line with Suella Braverman's ratings in May 2023. Encouraging stuff, eh, Yvette?
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