Sir Keir Starmer (44%) beat Rishi Sunak (39%) in the first televised election debate, including on who had the best answers on immigration (Starmer 45%, Sunak 37%), according to a new snap poll from Savanta – conducted entirely after the debate concluded.
In a nationally representative poll of the UK public who watched Sunak vs Starmer: The Debate live on ITV (4 June), Starmer was seen to have the best answers on:
- NHS and public services (Starmer 63%, Sunak 25%)
- The economy and cost of living (Starmer 52%, Sunak 36%)
- Defence and security (Starmer 43%, Sunak 41%)
The Labour leader also beat Sunak on every personality-based question, including:
- Came across as most honest (Starmer 54%, Sunak 29%)
- Who gave most thoughtful answers (Starmer 53%, Sunak 35%)
- Remained the calmest (Starmer 51%, Sunak 36%)
Chris Hopkins, Political Research Director at Savanta said, โAccording to our overnight panel, Starmer wins on the detail, but Sunak is much closer in the most important ‘who won the debate’ metric.”
Presentationally, it felt like the Prime Minister had the upper hand at times – in particular towards the end of the debate – and although our figures suggest he lost narrowly, he probably still outperformed expectations.”
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