Cabinet rankings: Mahmood sees sharp drop in approval among Labour members

Shabana Mahmood’s approval among Labour members has plummeted since her announcement on reform of asylum policy, exclusive polling for LabourList has revealed.

The poll, conducted by Survation, saw a 32 point drop in the Home Secretary’s approval, from +26 in September to -6 now.

The poll was conducted in the immediate aftermath of the government’s announcement to make significant reforms to the UK’s asylum and returns system, including a 20-year wait for those granted asylum to apply to settle permanently and a review of status every two and a half years.

Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy also saw a significant drop in his approval, falling from +15 in September to -1. This follows a tumultuous period in which three prisoners were wrongly released from prisons under his watch.

Energy Secretary Ed Miliband remains the most popular member of the Cabinet with a favourability of +69, down slightly from our last poll, followed by Hilary Benn (+42), John Healey (+38) and Jonathan Reynolds (+33).

Technology Secretary Liz Kendall remained the Cabinet member with the lowest approval, with a rating of -21, unchanged from September.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer saw his net approval slip further to -13, with only two regions of Great Britain holding a positive approval of the Labour leader – Wales (+22) and South East England (+1).

Labour members who backed Bridget Phillipson as deputy leader earlier this autumn had a +47 approval of the Prime Minister, in stark contrast to those who supported Lucy Powell, who had a -46 rating of Starmer.

Emma Burnell, editor of LabourList, said: “There are three certainties in life; death, taxes and Ed Miliband topping the Cabinet rankings poll. Ed both has a brief that is popular with Labour members but is also – crucially – being seen to deliver on it.

“Shabana Mahmood on the other hand has a brief that is notorious for sinking the popularity of Labour figures among their own membership. Her recent outing in the Commons won her wide praise on performance grounds – but Labour members seem to have been very put off by the content.”

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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 1,013 readers of LabourList, the leading dedicated newsletter and news and comment website for Labour supporters, who also said they were Labour Party members between November 18 and 20.

Data was weighted to the profile of party members by age, sex, region, 2020 Labour leadership vote and 2025 deputy leadership vote. Targets for weighting were drawn from the British Election Study and the results of the leadership and deputy leadership election.

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