Andy Burnham is the cabinet minister members are most likely to think is doing a good job, while 23% feel Shabana Mahmood is doing badly as home secretary
Labour’s annual party conference is in full swing in Liverpool, with Andy Burnham and his cabinet leading the party for the first time. But how is the new government going down with the party faithful? New YouGov polling for Sky News and iNHouse Communications of more than 1,000 Labour members reveals how well they think the new cabinet are doing in their jobs.
On this measure, Andy Burnham comes out on top, with 94% of party members saying he is doing a good job as prime minister, relative to a mere 4% thinking he is doing poorly. Ed Miliband also receives widespread praise within the grassroots, with 86% believing he is doing well as foreign secretary.
Also high up our ‘league table’ are housing secretary Angela Rayner (76% good job), health secretary Yvette Cooper (68%) and chancellor John Healey (66%).
Overall, party members tend to think all cabinet ministers are doing a good job, with every single one having a positive net rating in our poll. However, a substantial minority do not approve of some cabinet ministers’ work in the job so far, particularly home secretary Shabana Mahmood, who is seen to be doing badly in the role by 23% of members. Defence secretary Wes Streeting and culture secretary Lisa Nandy are also subject to some criticism from members, with 15-17% dissatisfied at their job performance so far. In all three cases, though, at least 55% of Labour members think these ministers are doing a good job.
A number of cabinet ministers are yet to make much of a mark even among the grassroots of the Labour Party. Six in ten members (59%) do not know how to evaluate newcomer Anneliese Midgley as chief whip, while at least half (50-56%) are unsure how they feel about the performances of Alan Campbell, Angela Smith, Douglas Alexander, Miatta Fahnbulleh and Alex Norris. Even Burnham’s deputy, Louise Haigh, sees 44% of members unsure how they feel about her job performance so far.
Latest political favourability ratings among Labour members
However, just because party members think a cabinet minister is doing a good job doesn’t mean they inherently like them. For instance, while members believe Wes Streeting is doing a good job as defence secretary by 55% to 17%, he personally divides the party faithful, with 48% seeing him in a favourable light and 46% holding an unfavourable opinion of the Labour right figurehead.
Shabana Mahmood is also viewed less favourably than her job evaluation would suggest, with a full third (33%) of Labour members holding a negative view of the home secretary, though a majority (56%) do have a favourable opinion of her.
By contrast, approaching nine in ten (85%) have a positive opinion of Angela Rayner, nine points greater than the proportion who feel she’s doing well at the department of housing, communities and local government.
For Andy Burnham, though, the pictures are more similar, with nearly all members (95%) seeing the new prime minister positively. Seven in ten (70%) feel similarly about his predecessor Keir Starmer, though with 28% seeing the latter unfavourably.
See the full results here and here
Methodology
- Sample size: An online survey of 1,045 Labour Party members aged 16+
- Fieldwork: 9 to 23 September 2026
- In collaboration with: Sky News and iNHouse Communications
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Photo: Getty
