He also polls best on who would make a good prime minister.
New polling suggests the public have more faith in Labour than the Tories in a series of key areas of policy and perception, irrespective of who wins the Tory leadership contest. Conducted by pollster Ipsos, the findings suggest that attitudes towards Labour under Keir Starmer are improving – at least relative to the alternative offered by the Tories.
Ipsos asked a representative sample of the public how likely they think theoretical future governments would be to deliver on a range of areas. It tested the same areas under a Labour government led by Starmer, and a Tory government led by either Liz Truss or Rishi Sunak.
Starmer’s Labour has a massive lead over a Tory government led by Liz Truss in twelve separate areas. Starmer has a 13 point lead on Truss on improving public services, a 12 point lead on reducing waiting times in the NHS and reducing regional inequalities, and a 9 point lead on reducing climate change and growing the economy. Meanwhile, Truss only led Starmer when the public were asked how likely they think it is that a government led by one of them would reduce taxes.
Against a Tory government led by Sunak, Starmer has even bigger leads. He polled 17 points ahead on improving public services, 16 points ahead on reducing waiting times in the NHS, 14 points ahead on reducing regional inequalities, and 10 points ahead on reducing climate change and reducing the cost of living. Sunak only out-polls Starmer on growing the economy.
Elsewhere in the research from Ipsos, members of the public were asked whether Starmer, Sunak or Truss would make a good prime minister. Just 33 per cent of people say Starmer would make a good PM. However, Starmer is still one point ahead of Sunak, and three points ahead of Truss. Of the three, only Starmer had more people say he would make a good prime minister than bad.
Reflecting on the polling, Keiran Pedley – director of politics at Ipsos – said, “The public are more likely to think a Starmer-led Labour government would reduce the cost of living and improve Britain’s public services – both key priorities for voters moving forward.”
Chris Jarvis is head of strategy and development at Left Foot Forward
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