Starmer significantly more popular than Farage in head-to-head polling

Keir Starmer is the more favoured option as Prime Minister in head-to-head polling with Nigel Farage, polling shared exclusively with LabourList reveals.

Polling for the Fabian Society, conducted by YouGov, reveals that if given a choice between Keir Starmer and Nigel Farage to be Prime Minister, voters opted for the Labour leader by a margin of 45 – 33% (with 22% saying ‘don’t know’).

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This number is even larger among the voters who opted for Labour in 2024 but are not supporting the party now with Starmer at 71% vs Farage on 23% (with only 5 per cent saying ‘don’t know’). This rises even higher to 95% for Starmer over Farage when it comes to those who voted Labour in 2024 but are now saying they support either the Green Party or the Lib Dems.

When given a choice between Labour and Reform as the party of government, with no other parties on offer, the overall public opted for Labour by 46% to 34% for Reform UK – a lead of 11 points. This rises again to 71% for Labour and 25% for Reform for those who voted Labour at the last election but would not now and again to 95% for those who now support either Green or Lib Dem.

All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc.  Total sample size was 2,220 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 24th – 25th September 2025.  The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all GB adults (aged 18+).

Editor of LabourList, Emma Burnell, said: “The figures show that it is clear that while Nigel Farage might lead in the polls when there are many parties on offer, he repels more voters than he attracts.

“Labour should make sure that their offer is attractive enough to all voters who would be willing to opt for them to stop Farage and Reform forming a government. These voters will need wooing as much as those who are currently attracted to the populist right wing policies of Reform.”

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Ben Cooper of the Fabian Society said: “Despite a difficult first year, the Prime Minister and Labour remain far more popular amongst voters than the alternative of Farage and Reform.

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Dr Patrick English of YouGov said: “The evidence from this poll suggests that while Reform UK are ahead in the vote intention polls, significantly more Brits would prefer a Labour government and a Starmer premiership over Reform UK and Nigel Farage.

“But a national, binary choice is of course not how our voting system works. The challenge for Labour will be convincing these voters to turn out and back them at the next election in sufficient numbers, and in the right areas, to see off the challenge from a motivated and fired up Reform party.”

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