Polling Results

See the full data tables here.

Starmer’s Ratings Fall Further Following Labour Conference

• Keir Starmer’s approval rating slips to net -44% after Labour Party Conference
• Half of voters (50%) said Labour had a bad week during its Conference, with only 20% saying they’d had a good week
• Nigel Farage leads Starmer by five points as preferred PM (31% vs 26%)
• Ahead of Conservative Party Conference, only 18% of voters approve of Kemi Badenoch’s performance so far

Hot off the heels of a comparatively upbeat Labour Party Conference, the latest polling from Opinium shows Labour leader Keir Starmer’s approval rating continuing to slide, with a net rating of -44 (-3).

Starmer still trails Reform leader Nigel Farage as preferred Prime Minister, with Farage extending his lead over Starmer to five points (31% vs 26%), up three points over the Labour Conference week. A third of voters (33%) preferred neither leader.

Conference Cheers Fall Flat

Despite an optimistic mood among Conference goers, half of voters (50%) said Labour had a bad week, with only 20% saying the party had a good week. Among 2024 Labour voters, opinion was split: 37% bad vs 39% good.

More voters viewed Starmer’s Conference speech negatively (34%) than positively (23%). But Labour voters were more supportive of the speech, with 45% saying Starmer had done a good job, compared to 19% who held a negative view.

Labour Out of Step

Across a range of metrics, perceptions of Labour worsened over its Conference week. The party dropped five points on the public’s view of whether they “have similar views to my own” (net -34) and four points on “representing what most people think” (net -38).

 A majority of voters believe the party is failing to rebuild trust in politics (65%), provide hope or optimism (61%), or offer a competent government (59%).

Hopes and Fears

More voters see Nigel Farage as optimistic (39%) about Britain’s future than Keir Starmer (32%). However, the same proportion of voters (39%) see Farage as pessimistic about the future.

Over half (55%) say Nigel Farage emphasises Britain’s problems and challenges, compared to only 17% who say he focuses on positives & strengths. Nearly half (47%) say his language increases community tensions, compared to a third (33%) who say he describes issues fairly as he sees them.

Kemi’s Conference Countdown

As the Conservatives gather for their Party Conference in Manchester, leader Kemi Badenoch’s net approval remains steady at -22 overall (18% approve, 40% disapprove). Among 2024 Conservative voters, fewer than two in five (38%) approve of the job she is doing so far, while 21% disapprove.

Nearly half (48%) of voters say her leadership has not been a success so far, with only 23% taking a positive view. Even among 2024 Conservative voters, negative views (43%) outnumber positives views (39%).

Standalone support for policy proposals embraced by the Conservatives is strongest on supporting academy school freedoms (+46%), a strict visa cap to reduce immigration (+43%), and increasing the living time required in the UK to claim citizenship (+35%). However, all see modest declines in support when framed as Conservative policies under Badenoch’s leadership.

Public perceptions

The public’s top issue overall continues to be immigration (56%, +3), for the second week in a row, followed by health (53%, +1) and the economy (42%, -1).

James Crouch, head of policy and public affairs at Opinium, said:

While the mood among Conference goers may have been that Labour and Starmer had at least not a bad week, public sentiment remains deeply negative. The public don’t think Labour have had a good week, they see a party struggling to rebuild trust in politics, inspire hope, or demonstrate competent governance. Despite Labour’s criticism this week of Farage and Reform talking down Britain and being negative, the public are actually more likely to view Starmer as pessimistic about the country’s future than Farage, suggesting Labour must first address how they are perceived before challenging others. The Conservatives head into their conference weekend with their leader on low approval ratings, and a party still searching for a message that resonates.

-ENDS-

Opinium conducted a nationally and politically representative survey of 2,050 UK adults aged 18+ between 1st-3rd September 2025.