Exclusive poll: Labour trails Reform but Starmer rated better PM than Farage

Labour trails Reform, but the public still says that Keir Starmer makes a better Prime Minister than Nigel Farage would, according to polling seen by LabourList.

The survey by leading pollsters Survation found that 24.7% of respondents would vote for Reform if an election was held tomorrow, compared to 22.2% for Labour, and 17.5% for the Conservatives.

When the pollsters factored in likelihood to vote, removing undecided voters and those who refused, the numbers increased to 27.3% for Reform, 24.5% for Labour, and 19.8% for the Conservatives.

However, when asked who would make the better Prime Minister, 31.8% of respondents answered Starmer compared to 27.5% for Farage and just 14.5% for Kemi Badenoch.

This is despite Starmer being much less popular than Farage. Starmer has a negative net likeability rating of -14.4%, while Farage has a positive net likeability rating of 3.5%, a difference of more than 17 points.

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Voters were also polled on the characteristics they associate with the leaders.

The polling found voters regard as Farage is more honest (24.7% vs 22.7%), more competent (26.7% vs 24.6%), more genuine (25.3% vs 23%), less out of touch (19.6% vs 44.2%), and a stronger leader (32.4% vs 25.1%) than Starmer.

But voters say Starmer is calmer (29.6% vs 25%), less irrational (27.3% vs 31.9%), more empathetic (24.8% vs 23.5%), and more reliable (26% vs 24.6%) than Farage.

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