Majority of Labour members want new leadership by next general election – exclusive poll

A majority of Labour members want a change of leadership going into the next general election, exclusive polling for LabourList has revealed.

With pressure mounting on the PM ahead of his speech, the poll, conducted by Survation and shared with Sky News, found that 53% of members believe that the party should have a new leadership in place, with just 31% backing the current leadership.

Desire for change was strongest among the 35-44 age group, at 63%, and weakest among those aged 65+, at 49%. Men wanted a new leadership more than women, at 56% versus 49%.

Only 43% of members who backed Starmer for leader in 2020 want the leadership to remain. Unsurprisingly, 88% of those who voted for Rebecca Long-Bailey want new leadership.

Read the latest news, analysis and commentary on the 2025 Labour party conference in Liverpool here on LabourList.

Members were also asked how well they thought Starmer had governed since coming into office, with almost two-thirds (64%) answering ‘badly’. Just 35% said he had been governing well.

A similar number, 65%, felt the party was going in the wrong direction, with 26% saying it was going in the right one.

The polling will be a tough read for Prime Minister Keir Starmer, with commentators already billing this as a ‘make or break’ conference amid low polling and the most recent reset being derailed by Peter Mandelson’s sacking.

While speaking to regional receptions at conference yesterday, Starmer stressed the progress made by the Labour government over the last 14 months and said the next election would be a choice between Labour and Reform.

“This is the fight of our times, this is the fight in front of us. It’s a fight like which we have never seen before, and we need to be up for that fight. We need to be absolutely clear what the fight is about, who we are as a country, and we need to win that fight – which we will.”

LabourList editor Emma Burnell said: “The phrase ‘make or break conference speech’ is wildly overused in politics. So much so, that you try to reach for other things to say.

“But the plain truth is Starmer has to do an awful lot this week to convince his party he has a plan to turn things around and the capability to achieve a revival of Labour’s fortunes.

“Labour members will need to see a plan for change that goes beyond a slogan. But they will also be looking for a passionate messenger who can sell that plan to the country. It’s a tall ask, but one Starmer knows he must deliver on.”

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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 1,254 readers of LabourList, the leading dedicated newsletter and news and comment website for Labour supporters, who also said they were Labour Party members between September 23 and 25.

READ MORE:  Labour Party Conference 2025: Full LabourList events programme, revealed

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.

Labour party conference 2025: Read more from LabourList: 

What you need to know: 

• SPEECHES: Where is conference and when are Keir Starmer, Rachel Reeves and Angela Rayner speaking?
• VOTES: Revealed: The party rule changes Labour conference could vote on

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