Starmer as popular as Johnson during vaccine rollout, poll finds

Sir Keir Starmer ended his first week as Prime Minister as popular as Boris Johnson was at the height of the vaccine rollout, a poll has found.

Some 36% of the public told pollster Ipsos they thought Sir Keir was doing a good job as Prime Minister, the highest rating for a premier since February 2021 when 37% said the same about Mr Johnson.

But conversely, just 14% of the public think the new Prime Minister is doing a bad job, well below the 41% that thought negatively of Mr Johnson in February 2021 – and the 57% that thought badly of Rishi Sunak just before he called the election.

Keiran Pedley, director of politics at Ipsos, said: “Looking at Keir Starmer’s poll ratings there are increasing signs of the new Prime Minister enjoying something of a honeymoon period during his first few days in office.”

Sir Keir’s Government as a whole enjoyed similar approval ratings, with 34% saying they thought it was running the country well and a similar proportion saying they thought it was doing better than expected.

Enthusiasm for Labour is particularly high among those aged 18-34, with 45% saying they thought the Government was doing better than expected.

That figure fell to 29% of those aged 35-54 and 31% of those aged 55-75.

Mr Pedley added: “Of course, time will tell how long such ratings last, with Starmer and his Government’s ability to deliver against public priorities likely to dictate their respective political fortunes in the long term.”

Just 16% of people thought Labour was doing a bad job running the country, well below the figures saying the same about recent Conservative governments.

The Ipsos poll surveyed 1,092 British adults online between July 12 and 15.