Keir Starmer is now as popular as Boris Johnson was at the height of the Covid vaccine rollout, according to a new poll.
Pollster Ipsos found 36% of the public said they thought Starmer was doing a good job as the prime minister after just one full week in office – that’s almost twice the number who thought the same about Rishi Sunak when he was in office in May.
The 36% for Starmer is the highest rating recorded for any prime minister since February 2021, when 37% of the public expressed the same sentiment about Johnson.
The government was successfully rolling out the Covid vaccine at the time.
But, Johnson also faced a lot of division – 41% thought negatively of him at the same time.
In comparison, just 14% say Starmer is not doing a good job now.
Director of politics at Ipsos, Keiran Pedley, said the results suggested Starmer was enjoying a “honeymoon period”.
He 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.”
The poll surveyed 1,092 UK adults online between July 12 and 15 – Starmer only got into Downing Street on July 5.
The new government is experiencing similarly high ratings to the new PM, with 34% of respondents in the poll saying they believed the country was being run well.
Just 16% saying they thought Labour was doing a bad job – that’s slightly higher than the peak of Johnson’s government.
Meanwhile, 34% said it was going better than they had expected, including the 59% who voted Labour on July 4.
Those respondents aged between 18 and 34 appear to be most supportive of Starmer right now, with 45% saying the government was performing better than expected.
Pedley said: “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.”