According to Opinium’s latest polling, Keir Starmer has seen approval ratings drop to a new low of -35% this week, down from -33% in their last poll.
Kemi Badenoch’s approval rating among UK voters has also fallen to a new low of -15%, down from -12% previously. Conversely, Nigel Farage’s approval with the public has risen to a post-election high, sitting at -7%, whilst Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey’s is on +/-0%.
Enter the 47th President of the United States
In the week of Donald Trump’s official return to power in the United States, UK voters have a mixed view on what the future under the 47th President of the US will bring.
Almost half of UK adults agree that Trump is able to get things done (49%) and that he sticks to his principles rather than just saying what people want to hear (48%). In addition, almost two fifths (38%) believe Trump represents what most Americans think, and that he has the USA’s best interests at heart (42%).
However, the majority (56%) of the UK public do not think Donald Trump is trustworthy, and only a quarter (26%) say that he is a friend of Britain’s vs. 40% who disagree. Similarly, most UK adults think that Trump becoming president again is bad for US relations with the majority of key countries and groups.
As a result, over two fifths (45%) think the UK Government should focus on improving its ties with allies other than the United States, whilst just three tenths (30%) think the UK Government should focus on improving its ties with a United States led by Donald Trump.
TikTok Ban
Over two fifths (42%) of UK adults said they heard a lot about the TikTok ban coming into force in the US and being restored 14 hours later in the news this week. A quarter (26%) support banning TikTok in the UK, compared to over a third (36%) who oppose it. It’s the mainstream platform which has the most support for being banned in the UK, closely followed by X (25% support vs 35% oppose). Younger people (aged 18-34) oppose banning TikTok by 62% to 18% vs. those aged 50-64 who support it by 30% to 25%. By comparison only 7% support banning YouTube and 16% support banning Facebook.
Ceasefire
The Ceasefire agreement between Isreal and Gaza is the third most salient news story this week, with 41% stating they heard a lot about it. Over three fifths (62%) think it is unlikely, however, that the ceasefire will end up being permanent and will end the war, compared to less than a fifth (19%) who think it is likely.
Adam Drummond, head of political and social research at Opinium, said, “Compared to when he came into office the first time, the main changes in British voters’ view of Donald Trump is that the percentage calling him a strong leader is up 16 points (from +4% to +20%) while the share calling him a friend of Britain’s is down over 20 points (from +7% to -15%).
“In UK politics, the government’s main advantages remain the 4+ years to go before another general election and the weakness of the Conservative party, a situation illustrated by the fact that Labour still lead the Conservatives on most issues and are tied on the economy, and that hardly anybody noticed Tulip Siddiq resigning from the government. However, with Nigel Farage’s popularity climbing, Tory weakness is something that could suddenly become a major problem for Labour.”
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