Views of Andy Burnham’s character have become more negative since May

The number of Britons with an unfavourable view of the would-be prime minister has reached its highest level to date

With Andy Burnham looking ever more like he will become the next prime minister, a new YouGov/Times survey – conducted on 24-25 June, following Keir Starmer’s resignation – shows that the heir apparent has taken a hit to his personal ratings.

Having seen his net favourability decline to -11 in the run up to the Makerfield by election, our first poll following the event found Burnham’s score ticked up slightly to -4. However, this latest poll finds Burnham’s popularity has receded to -11 once again, with 32% having a positive opinion of him and 43% a negative one (this latter figure being the highest to date).

Burnham remains popular among 2024 Labour voters, however, with 59% holding a favourable view of him, and Green and Lib Dem voters also hold net positive views of the likely next Labour leader.

Separate data also shows that views of Andy Burnham’s personal character have become more negative since May.

The number of Britons who see Burnham as competent has taken a seven point knock to 36%, alongside a six point decline in his ‘decisive’ rating to 33%, and five point reductions in his principled (25%) and trustworthy (22%) scores.

Nevertheless, Burnham continues to be seen as more competent and decisive than not, alongside strong performances in terms of likeability (40% think so, largely unchanged from the previous survey), and ‘strong’ (33%, not asked about in the prior survey).

However, the public are now torn on whether the former mayor is principled, and tend to consider him untrustworthy.

The trend among 2024 Labour voters matches that among the wider public, with similar-sized drops in perceived competence, decisiveness, trustworthiness and principle, but no change in likeability.

Despite the decline, for the time being Burnham’s figures still represent a marked improvement on Starmer’s, of whom 59-74% of Britons label with each of the negative attributes polled.

Burnham also still has plenty of space to grow in people’s perceptions – across all attributes between 38% and 54% answered “don’t know”, so the new Makerfield MP will be looking to make a strong first impression on many voters in coming weeks.

See the full results here and here

Interested in taking YouGov surveys? What do you think about Andy Burnham, whether it was right to force Keir Starmer to resign, and everything else? Have your say, join the YouGov panel, and get paid to share your thoughts. Sign up here.

Interested in commissioning YouGov research? We connect in real-time with real people around the world to gather their thoughts, behaviours, and opinions, to ensure that our research data is powered by reality. Explore our survey services here.

Photo: Getty