Most believe he has been bad or terrible as PM

Following Labour’s local and devolved election losses, MPs are lining up to call for Keir Starmer to resign.

The British public likewise think Starmer needs to go, with 50% saying so, up seven points from a month ago, and significantly outnumbering those who want him to stay (29%).

Those who backed the party in 2024 are split, with 40% now believing Starmer should stand down, (up 11pts since mid-April), while 45% continue to think he should remain in place (down 10pts).

A separate YouGov poll from late April showed that most Britons (58%) said Keir Starmer has been a bad or terrible prime minister, and only 10% considered him good or great.

But in what ways do Britons think the prime minister has been good or bad? To dig deeper into public perceptions in this area, we used our new YouGov AI Interviewer tool to ask respondents: “what do you think about how Keir Starmer has been as prime minister?”

The AI agent then conducted interviews with each respondent, following up on their responses, in order to provide ‘the why’ behind what Britons think. Our qualitative analysis of attitudes, including quotes, can be found below, along with examples of respondent interviews in their entirety.

Leadership and general performance

Many respondents offered broad judgements of Starmer's premiership in light of expectations, including comparisons with previous governments, and the legacy he inherited. Additionally, respondents spoke of Starmer’s core leadership and governing capabilities.

  • I thought after the chaos of the tories and Boris Johnson this bland grey little man would at least be stable and hold the ship steady. Instead he has been an absolute disaster and has single handed destroyed the labour party. Every week there is another scandal or revelation of incompetence. For the sake of the UK he needs to go – Male, 55+, Reform voter
  • I think he's alright and I think he's been dealt a rough hand. The state of the country was in tatters when he was elected thanks to the conservatives and people are idiots and always on the look out for someone to blame and he's taken the hit. – Female, 45-54, Labour voter
  • He’s been a bit rubbish - unambitious, inconsistent, timid, uncharismatic and lacking in bold vision. Okay on the international stage but no good at home. – Male, 55+, Labour voter
  • He's been a terrible prime minister, he has no backbone, continues to break election promises and genuinely seems scared to make hard decisions. He has no place in Government let alone running the country. – Female, 55+, Conservative voter
  • Start of his term was very bad with many obviously unpopular decisions. Everything following is shadowed by that which makes him look indecisive. He's had a few scandals that weren't necessary his fault but he's handled them alright. Not great not terrible. Labour seems to have a wide spread of views between very left wing progressive MPs, and more centre right views such as from ex-conservative MPs that defected. Need to focus and narrow down what they stand for. – Male, 18-24, vote not disclosed
  • He’s been acceptable on foreign policy. He doesn’t seem to have a vision for the country and hasn’t done as much as he could of with such a huge majority and a country keen for change. My opinion of him as a person was strongly affected by him sacking Olly Robbins - before then I thought he was a decent guy who wasn’t really suited for politics, now I think he is a desperate guy who isn’t really suited to politics. – Female, 25-34, Labour voter
  • He does not seem to stand for anything, has no hard lines and changes direction like a weather vein – Male, 35-44, Conservative voter
  • A lack of imagination and planning. Having been in opposition for so long, there should have been a clear plan for the first year or two. Instead, they (the Gov) acted like it was a surprise to be in power, with no clear strategy or leadership – Male, 45-54, Labour voter
  • He faced a difficult job, taking over from 10 years of Conservative misrule, and knew he and his government would have to make some difficult, unpopular decisions. Nevertheless, he hasn't got anywhere in the popularity stakes and hasn't gained much support from the general public; he has no charisma and lacks thye power to convince anyone that he knows what he's doing. Male, 55+, Labour voter
Quotes - Leadership and general performance

Economy, public services and living standards

A common criticism of Keir Starmer is of his handling of the state of the economy, a failure to grapple with the cost of living - including his treatment of people on welfare - and the state of public services

  • Yes! Working people have Less money in their pockets, Pensioners suffering - winter fuel cuts, Farmers are suffering - and selling up their lands to avoid inheritance tax. The only people who are genuinely benefitting from all this farce are the -Unemployed, and those on sickness benefits. – Female, 55+, vote not disclosed
  • He came into office with the promise to look after the workers, the NHS and the welfare of the people. He has done nothing to help the economy, the life of working people. Just increased the welfare budget so more and more people choose not to work and get the equivalent of a working wage in many cases. – Male, 55+, Conservative voter
  • He had every opportunity to be wonderful. He had huge support from the public and won a large majority. What he didn't seem to realise was that labour don't get to do unpopular stuff early on and have it forgotten or forgiven later like the Tories do. I expected better from him, I really did. I want to like him but the treatment of the welfare claimants absolutely ruined it for me. I didn't expect it from him. I expect it from Tories but it hit hard coming from his hand – Female, 45-54, Labour voter
  • Said he'd continue to support low income families with cost of living but has taken all help away – Female, 45-54, Lib Dem voter
Economy, public services and cost of lviing

Integrity, promises and trust

Conversations touching on this category mentioned Keir Starmer's honesty, his failure to keep promises, indecision, and his handling of the Peter Mandelson scandal

  • He pretended to be leftwing to win over the membership. He the. Pretended he was progressive and pro European to the country and roll back on all of this. I don't think he believes in anything – Male, 35-44, vote not disclosed
  • As he flip flops on everything. He stands for whatever focus groups say are popular, just blames previous governments and has no strategy. Everything is knee jerk. Whether agree with his principles or not it's impossible to know what his core principles are. Seems to just want to destroy the UK – Male, 45-54, Conservative voter
  • He's got to have known about Peter mandelson and he's tried to say he didn't know. He's backtracked on most of the promises he's made so far – Female, 45-54, Labour voter
  • He had promised all sorts in run up to last election .Think none of the happened.Lied during inquiry into Peter Mendelson.List is endless – Female, 55+, Labour voter
  • He's clearly a stooge of the billionaires & fossil fuel lobby, put in place via McSweeney by Lord Mandelson, to keep the UK government in the same furrow as the previous Tory administration. He's pro-Zionist & anti-Palestinian, unsurprisingly, as a Labour Together creature, an organisation which orchestrated the disgraceful treatment of Jeremy Corbyn. Ironically, Starmer stole Corbyn's agenda to get himself elected and then, once he'd won, shamelessly ditched all those pledges. Must go now. – Male, 55+, Green voter
Quotes - Integrity, promises and trust

Foreign policy and international role

Some respondents focussed on Keir Starmer's handling of foreign policy issues - typically Israel for those on the left, while those on the right are more animated by his stance towards the EU, the Chagos Islands. Both sides criticise his handling of relations with the US.

  • He’s been ineffective and weak, too pliant to America’s interests, not nearly strong enough on policy regarding Israel and the Gaza genocide, far too much brow beating at the left wing of the party and capitulation to the right wing in the party – Male, 18-24, Labour voter
  • We are being used and we creep around the US government. – Female, 55+, SNP voter
  • He won't take a stand, not sure we should still be sending weapons and money to Israel. Definitely don't think we should be pandering to Trump. Both countries have very right wing governments and I think we need to take a step back – Female, 55+, Lib Dem voter
  • He has agreed to start paying into the EU budget, cosied up to the EU, tried to surrender the chagos islands and failed to protect the UK based on Cyprus – Male, 25-34, Reform voter
  • When Donald Trump ORDERED him NOT to hand the islands over to the people, he COWERED like a DOG and he CANCELLED THE DEAL!!! When Trump ORDERED the SPANISH Prime Minister to help with his ILLEGAL WAR, the Spanish Prime Minister REFUSED and told Trump exactly what he could DO with his orders!!! Kier Starmer practically fell to his KNEES trying to please Trump because he is TERRIFIED OF HIM!!! He has BETRAYED Britain and he is a COWARD who licks Donald Trump's boots!!! – Male, 55+, Labour voter
Quotes - Foreign policy and international role

Positive impressions of Keir Starmer

While the bulk of sentiment towards Starmer is negative, the prime minister does have his defenders. Here is a selection of respondents who generally approve of Starmer’s performance, and why they take such a view.

  • He has been a good Prime Minister bring stability and starting growth to the country – Male, 55+, Labour voter
  • Has done quite well in difficult circumstances – Male, 55+, Labour voter
  • I did not vote for Keir Starmer, but I'd have him any day over the abject embarrassing disaster that was the previous conservative government (s). I used to vote conservative now I would not touch them. To have Starmer in, he has brought stability, reasonableness and integrity back to the UK. If he has the courage to move us towards rejoining EU I would vote for him. – Male, 55+, Lib Dem voter
  • We have not had a prime minister like Kier for a long time that I belive to be a good person though all people can make mistakes and it is the responce of what happens after the mistakes that matter – Male, 55+, Lib Dem voter
  • I think he's done a reasonably good job so far given the mess he inherited from the Tory government. I hope he gets the chance to stay on as prime minister and continue to sort it all out – Female, 55+, SNP voter
  • I think he’s showed stability and moral ethics – Male, 45-54, Labour voter
Quotes - Positive impressions of Keir Starmer
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