Just one in seven Britons approve of the government’s record to date

Key takeaways

  • 68% of Britons, including 48% of 2024 Labour voters, disapprove of the government’s record in office
  • The economy and immigration are currently seen as the most important issues facing the country
  • Just 22% of Britons believe Keir Starmer is doing well as prime minister
  • 72-75% of Britons feel the government are handling the issues around immigration, the economy and taxation badly
  • While belief Kemi Badenoch looks like a prime minister in waiting has risen over the last year, to 22%, most Britons still think she does not

There’s now just a week to go until Labour faces their largest electoral test since they came to power, with the Scottish Parliament, Welsh Senedd and more than 5,000 council seats in England up for election. All of our MRP models, from Scotland to London, Wales to the West Midlands, project that Labour is likely to fail this test by historic proportions, while Reform UK and the Greens are on course for significant gains.

So, what is the national political backdrop set to cause such seismic results?

Do Britons approve of the government, April 2026?

Our latest government approval ratings show that just one in seven Britons (15%) approve of the government’s record to date, against two thirds (68%) disapproving of Labour’s actions in office, leaving them with a net approval rating of -53.

While this is not as low as the -61 score recorded by the government last September, it is in a similar ballpark to the government’s approval rating prior to the 2025 local elections (-47) and the final rating of the previous Conservative government (-56).

Disapproval of Labour’s record includes nearly half of those who voted for the party at the last election (48%), only a third of whom (33%) feel the government they voted into office has so far done a good job.

Explore the data for this tracker here

Explore what Scottish and Welsh people think of their governments here and here

What are the most important issues facing the country, April 2026?

As was the case prior to last year’s local elections, the economy and immigration currently top the political agenda for the public, with 54% and 51% of Britons respectively seeing them as among the most important issues facing the country, though with immigration’s salience up seven points relative to this time last year.

The recent conflict between the US and Iran has reignited debates about Britain’s national defence, which 29% of Britons now see as one of the country’s top issues, placing it on a similar level to issues around health (28%), which has trended downwards in our tracker over the last twelve months.

One in five Britons (19%) see welfare benefits and crime as among the nation’s biggest concerns, while 14-16% say so about each of taxation, Britain’s relationship with the EU, the environment and housing.

The economy is the most universal issue, with 54-63% of those who voted Conservative, Labour, Lib Dem or Green in 2024, as well as 39% of Reform UK voters, currently seeing it as one of the biggest issues facing the country.

But it’s immigration that dominates among Reform UK and Conservative voters, with 90% and 75% respectively viewing it as one of most pressing matters facing the UK. Nonetheless, 26-33% of Labour, Lib Dem and Green voters feel likewise about the issue.

Crime is also a particular concern among 2024 Reform UK voters, 35% of whom see it as one of the country’s top issues, while the 30-31% of Reform UK and Conservative voters seeing welfare benefits as a top issue is at least double the rate among other voters.

By contrast, 2024 Labour voters are disproportionately likely to feel that health (38%), Brexit (23%) and housing (21%) are among the most important issues facing the country, while half of those who backed the Greens at the last election (48%) say the environment is one of the biggest problems facing Britain.

Explore the data for this tracker here

Explore which issues people say are the most important in their local area here

How do Britons feel the government are handling the key issues, April 2026?

Beyond the overall disapproval in the government, the public express significant levels of dissatisfaction in their handling of nearly all key issues. Indeed, of the issues polled in our trackers, terrorism is the only one which less than half of the public say they feel the government is handling badly, and on that they are split 41% well to 38% badly over Labour’s performance (this data was recorded prior to the anti-Semitic stabbings in Golders Green).

The government’s performance on the economy, immigration and taxation get the worst reviews from the public, with just 16-17% of Britons believing Labour are doing a good job in these areas, while up to three quarters (72-75%) view them as doing a bad job.

Roughly a quarter of Britons (24%) believe Labour are handling the NHS well, against 69% feeling they’re handling the service badly.

The government receive more credit when it comes to education, the environment and transport: three in ten Britons (29-30%) think the government are handling these issues well, while 50-51% feel they are being handled poorly.

The recent US-Iran conflict has seemingly had a negative impact on perceptions of the government’s performance on two issues. At the end of February, belief the government was managing inflation badly had fallen to its lowest level in nine months (63%), though has now risen again to 70%. Meanwhile, a view they are handling defence poorly has risen from 44% to 56% over the same period.

Explore the data for these trackers here

How do Britons feel the opposition are doing, April 2026?

These local elections are not only a test for Labour and Keir Starmer, but could also prove a make-or-break moment for Kemi Badenoch’s leadership of the Conservatives, who will be looking to make progress from the party’s record losses in last year’s council elections.

Opinion towards the Tory party has slightly improved over the last year, though remains mostly negative.

For instance, while the one in six Britons (17%) believing the Conservatives are ready for a return to government is up six points since this time last year, these people are outnumbered several times over by the 61% who feel the Conservatives are not ready for office.

Similarly, while the proportion of Britons believing that Kemi Badenoch looks like a prime minister in waiting has doubled from 11% to 22% over the last year, this is still against 52% believing she does not look prime ministerial, even if this has fallen nine points over the last twelve months.

This improvement is heavily concentrated among Conservative voters, 52% of whom now see Kemi Badenoch as a prime minister in waiting, up 30 points since April 2025, though 29% still feel she does not have what it takes to enter Downing Street.

Explore the data for these trackers here and here

Which politicians do Britons think are doing a good job, April 2026?

An improvement in opinion towards Kemi Badenoch can also be seen in evaluations in her performance as leader. A third of Britons (32%) believe she’s doing well as the Tory boss, up a full 17 points since this time last year, relative to a comparatively low 43% thinking she’s doing badly, down seven points.

Keir Starmer’s job performance gets a less favourable review, with just 22% of Britons thinking he’s doing well as prime minister, down five points since last April, relative to 70% thinking he is doing a bad job, up nine points.

This includes 51% of 2024 Labour voters now believing Starmer is doing a bad job as prime minister, up 14 points over the last twelve months, in comparison to 43% who feel he’s doing well, down seven points.

These latest figures are, though, a significant improvement on Starmer’s standing with the public last December, when Britons felt he was doing badly as prime minister by 76% to 15%.

These ratings, as well as approval ratings elsewhere, should not inherently be confused with popularity, which is better reflected in our separate favourability trackers. As can be seen when putting them side-by-side, an unfavourable opinion doesn’t necessarily translate into a negative review.

This is particularly the case with Nigel Farage, who 36% of Britons think is doing a good job as Reform UK leader, relative to 47% who feel he is doing poorly. This net rating of -11 is a stark 27 points higher than his latest net favourability score of -38.

This difference is particularly prominent among 2024 Conservative voters, who are divided 43% to 51% in having a favourable or unfavourable opinion of Farage, but feel he is doing well as Reform UK leader by a margin of 62% to 29%. Labour voters are also more likely to feel Farage is an effective party leader (23%) than to have a positive view of him as an individual (9%).

Britons are split 34% to 35% on Zack Polanski’s leadership of the Greens, and 30% to 35% on Ed Davey’s leadership of the Lib Dems.

Explore the data for these trackers here

Explore the latest favourability ratings here

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Photo: Getty

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