Starmer’s approval rating at lowest on record amid cronyism scandal

New poll suggests appointment of Labour Party loyalists to senior Civil Service roles is affecting public goodwill towards the PM

Sir Keir Starmer’s approval rating has plummeted to its lowest level on record amid a growing cronyism scandal.
A new poll shows almost two-thirds of voters think the Government is more interested in serving its own interests than those of ordinary people.
According to the survey, carried out by More in Common this week, Sir Keir’s personal approval rating has plunged to a record low of minus 16 – a drop of 27 points from his post-election high of plus 11.
It comes after the Government was hit by a row over cronyism, with the Prime Minister facing questions over the appointments of several party loyalists to senior roles within the Civil Service.
More worryingly for No 10, the poll suggests the scandal is starting to cut through to voters and affect their views of Sir Keir.
Of those surveyed, 63 per cent said they thought his government was more “interested in helping themselves and their allies” than ordinary people.
More than half (53 per cent) also said they thought Labour was somewhat or very corrupt, compared with two-thirds who said the same of the Tories.
More than four in 10 believe both Labour and the Tories are “equally likely to make corrupt decisions or give senior roles to their friends and allies”.
Luke Tryl, the UK director of More in Common, said the results suggested voters were “somewhat sceptical about Starmer’s country before party pledge”.
He added: “Part of the challenge for Labour surrounds the perception of corruption in politics. The mood remains very much one of a pox on all your houses.”
The polling also shows that Sir Keir is facing anger among voters – particularly older ones – over his decision to means-test the winter fuel allowance.
More than four in five (82 per cent) of those over 75 oppose the move, though that proportion drops to just over a third (36 per cent) among the 18-24 bracket.
Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor, defended the change on Wednesday, although she insisted that it was “not a decision I wanted to make”.
She told broadcasters: “It was a decision that I had to make in incredibly challenging circumstances to put our public finances on a firm footing.”
It came as a separate poll showed more than half of the public already disapprove of the record of the Labour government to date.
The survey – conducted by YouGov between August 24 and 26 – found that 51 per cent disapprove of Sir Keir’s administration.
This means that the government’s approval rating has fallen by 20 percentage points in the space of four weeks, with 31 per cent having disapproved of its record on July 29.
Only 23 per cent approve of Labour’s record in government to date – the same amount who approved of Theresa May’s government at the same point after the 2017 general election.
The poll of 1,684 adults also found 56 per cent believe the government is handling crime badly, compared to 27 per cent who say it is dealing with it well.
Fifty-seven per cent say Labour is doing a bad job on the economy, with 24 per cent supporting its record to date.
Dylan Difford, a data journalist at YouGov, said: “While it is true to say that the new government is currently more popular than its predecessor was before the election, it is more a case of being less unpopular than popular in its own right.
“Compared to YouGov data at roughly the same point after other recent elections, the current approval for the government is undoubtedly below average.”