Cabinet rankings: Kendall overtakes Reeves as least popular minister among Labour members

Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall has overtaken Rachel Reeves as the least popular cabinet minister among Labour members, exclusive polling by Survation for LabourList has revealed.

Reeves saw her favourability rise by two points to -26, while Kendall faced a ten-point drop in her favourability, pushing her down to -33.

In our regular cabinet league table, ministers on average saw their net favorability rating – the proportion who feel positive minus those who feel negative – drop by around three percentage points compared to our last poll with Survation in June.

Several ministers saw significant drops in their net favourability, including Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy (down 16), Home Secretary Yvette Cooper (down 14) and Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood (down 13).

Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner, who remained the second most liked member of the cabinet, also saw a 12-point drop in her favourability.

Along with Rachel Reeves, only four other ministers saw an increase in their net favourability ratings; Wes Streeting (up two to +9), Lord Hermer (up five to +7), Ellie Reeves (up two to +6) and Baroness Chapman (up one to -4).

Drop in Starmer’s favourability

Prime Minister Keir Starmer saw his net approval rating drop from -7 to -9, with his support strongest among 18 to 24-year-olds at +30, but weakest among 35 to 44-year-olds at -27.

While those who backed Starmer as party leader in 2020 give the Prime Minister a net approval of +27, those who backed Nandy give him a rating of -4 and amongst those who backed Rebecca Long-Bailey a rating of -88.

By region, Starmer received a net negative approval rating in all but two regions of Great Britain; the exceptions being London (+20) and the West Midlands (+14).

His approval was lowest in Yorkshire and the Humber (-30) – a stark contrast to our last poll with Survation in June, where his favourability in the region stood at +4.

The minister whose popularity has gone up since March

Compared to our first poll with Survation in March, the Prime Minister has seen his net favourability among Labour members drop by 23 percentage points over the course of almost five months, from +14 to -9.

While almost all ministers have seen their favourability drop since March, Energy Secretary Ed Miliband – who has topped each of our cabinet league tables – has seen his approval among Labour members increase by four points, from +69 in March to +74 in our latest poll.

‘King of the North’ has high favourability among members

Amid speculation that Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham may be considering a bid to return to Parliament as an MP, the ‘King of the North’ secured an extremely high favourability rating among Labour members at +78.

Burnham’s favourability is highest among those Labour members aged 55 and older, with a rating of +86, along with members in the East of England at +92.

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‘Member ratings don’t exist in a vacuum’

Damian Lyons Lowe, chief executive of Survation, said: “The fourth wave of our Cabinet rankings among Labour members has seen general declines in net favourability for the cabinet overall on average, with notable drops from the likes of Angela Rayner, Shabana Mahmood, Lisa Nandy, David Lammy and Liz Kendall.

“While Kendall, as Work and Pensions Secretary – placing rock bottom in this edition – has faced persistent criticism over welfare reform policy, member ratings don’t exist in a vacuum.

“These shifts come at a time when Labour’s poll ratings with the wider public have also been on the slide, and changes in public mood inevitably shape how party members view their leadership team.

“It’s worth noting that despite these declines, most of the cabinet still enjoy positive net approval among members – indicating a broadly favourable view of the government’s team, even as individual ratings fluctuate.

“All that being said, at +73, Ed Miliband’s seemingly perma-popularity among members looks as set in stone as… well, the Ed Stone.”

The poll is the latest in a series of regular polls LabourList is publishing in partnership with leading pollsters Survation, a member of the British Polling Council and a Market Research Society Partner.

Survation surveyed 1,021 readers of LabourList, the leading dedicated newsletter and news and comment website for Labour supporters, who also said they were Labour Party members between August 5 and August 9.

Data was weighted to the profile of party members by age, sex, region and 2020 Labour leadership vote, targets for which were derived from the British Election Study and the results of the 2020 leadership election.

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