Opinium Voting Intention: 28th May 2025
Downloadable data tables from our latest voting intention poll can be found here.
Party leaders across the board have all seen a drop in net approval ratings since we last asked the public a fortnight ago. Kei Starmer’s ratings hit a low of -37% net approval, down 3 points. Badenoch sees a drop of 7 point, sitting at a -27% net approval. Both Nigel Farage and Ed Davey see a drop of 5 points (net approval of -11% and -4% respectively).
| 28th May | Approve | Neither | Disapprove | Don’t know | NET: Approve | NET: Approve changes |
| The way Keir Starmer is handling his job as Prime Minister | 20% | 17% | 56% | 7% | -37% | -3% |
| The way Kemi Badenoch is handling her job as leader of the Conservative Party | 15% | 29% | 42% | 14% | -27% | -7% |
| The way Ed Davey is handling his job as leader of the Liberal Democrats | 19% | 38% | 24% | 19% | -4% | -5% |
| The way Nigel Farage is handling his job as leader of Reform UK | 31% | 19% | 42% | 8% | -11% | -5% |
The results for who would make the best Prime Minister remains similar: 24% (-1) think Keir Starmer would be the best Prime Minister, while 11% (-2) say Kemi Badenoch. Just under half of people now prefer neither of the main party leaders as prime minister (48%, -2).
What made the news this week?
| News stories tested | Heard a lot | Heard a little | Not really heard anything | NET: Heard |
| A man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after a car was driven into a crowd in Liverpool on Monday | 58% | 28% | 13% | 87% |
| The UK and the EU reach a new agreement on areas including fishing rights, trade and defence. | 23% | 43% | 34% | 66% |
| Keir Starmer announces plans to ease cuts to winter fuel payments. | 21% | 54% | 25% | 75% |
| King Charles III has given a major speech at the opening of parliament in Canada | 20% | 44% | 35% | 65% |
| French President Emmanuel Macron says he and his wife were “just joking around” as a video emerges of his wife Brigitte apparently shoving him in the face | 20% | 38% | 42% | 58% |
| Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson says the government is looking at scrapping the two-child benefit cap but warned it would “cost a lot of money”. | 12% | 46% | 42% | 58% |
| The UK, France and Canada have warned Israel they will take “concrete actions” if it continues an “egregious” expansion of military operations in Gaza. | 12% | 39% | 49% | 51% |
| Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner’s department called for Chancellor Rachel Reeves to increase taxes prior to this year’s Spring Statement. | 12% | 31% | 57% | 43% |
| London Mayor Sadiq Khan backs a report saying the possession of small quantities of cannabis for personal use should be decriminalised | 10% | 32% | 58% | 42% |
The state of education
N.B. Parents referred to here are those with a child in pre-18 education, from pre-school through to Year 12.
Parents have a positive view of education while UK adults more generally think education system performs poorly on some key areas.
- UK adults tend to think the education system is poor at preparing children for adult life generally (45% poorly, 21% well) and is poor at preparing children for the world of work (46% poorly, 20% well).
- However, parents of school children are more optimistic than the general public. They are more split on whether schools do a good or bad job preparing children for adult life generally and the world of work, but are net positive about schools giving children from low income backgrounds the skills needed to succeed and ensuring those with special needs or disabilities are able to receive an education.
| How well or badly do you think the education system does each of the following? | All UK adults | Parents | ||||
| Well | Poorly | NET | Well | Poorly | NET | |
| Ensuring that every child in the UK receives at least a basic minimum standard of education | 43% | 24% | +19% | 56% | 20% | +36% |
| Ensuring that those with special needs or disabilities are able to receive an education | 32% | 32% | -1% | 46% | 28% | +18% |
| Giving children from low-income backgrounds the skills needed to succeed | 24% | 34% | -10% | 36% | 27% | +9% |
| Preparing children for adult life generally | 21% | 45% | -24% | 33% | 36% | -3% |
| Preparing children for the world of work | 20% | 46% | -26% | 34% | 36% | -1% |
How children learn
The public is unsure about the balance of exams to coursework in the education system, but tend to think there should be slight shift away from exams.
- 24% think teenagers are currently mainly/entirely assessed by exam, while only 15% think they are assessed mainly/entirely through coursework, and 36% think it is an even balance.
- There is a sense that the public think there should be a shift away from exams: only 15% think teenagers should be assessed mainly/entirely by exams, while 22% think they should be assessed mainly/entirely through coursework, and 44% think it should be an even balance.
Only 5% of UK adults think teenagers are mainly taught how to think about and understand the world (e.g. critical thinking). A third (36%) think they are mainly taught to remember and repeat facts (e.g. learning by rote), and 31% think they receive a mixture of both.
- Among parents of school-aged children, the balance is 39% for mainly rote-learning, 40% for a mixture and 6% for mainly critical thinking
When it comes to subjects, half (50%) think teenagers “should choose which subjects to specialise in as this is good preparation for further/higher education and later careers”. 28% think they “should study a broader range of subjects later into their time at school”.
- Among parents of school-aged children, these figures are 54% and 30% respectively
The public tends to think exams and assessments build resilience, but parents are more divided, with many believing they are too stressful and that we should find other ways of assessing teenagers.
- Half (52%) of adults tend to think that “teenagers need to build resilience, and exams and school assessments can help build resilience.” By comparison, only 29% think “exams, coursework and school assessments are too stressful for teenagers and we should look at other ways of assessing whether they are learning.”
- Parents are much more evenly divided: 47% believe exams build resilience, while a similar proportion (42%) believe they are too stressful and we need to find other options.
- That being said, when we ask parents of children at the age to be approaching exams, almost half (45%) say their children are dealing with the pressures well. One in three (33%) say they are managing, while 16% say they are struggling.
Two-child benefits cap
The public tends to support the continuation of the two-child benefits cap (44% support, 22% oppose).
The contextual information given was:
Supporters argue that it encourages families not to have more children than they can afford and that the government cannot afford to pay any more.
Critics argue that it punishes children for the decisions of their parents, pushes up child poverty, and costs the state more in the long run because of the impact that growing up in poverty has on someone’s life
- Support is slightly narrower among parents (43% support, 28% oppose).
Three in ten (30%) UK adults think the two-child benefits cap is morally right, regardless of whether the government can afford to abolish it.
- A fifth (22%) think it is morally wrong but that the government cannot afford to abolish it.
- Only 17% of UK adults think the cap is wrong and that the government can afford to abolish it.