Cabinet rankings: Shabana Mahmood least popular minister among members

Shabana Mahmood has overtaken Liz Kendall as the least popular Cabinet minister among Labour members, exclusive polling for LabourList has revealed.

The Home Secretary has seen her favourability drop by 15 points since February to -12, according to polling conducted by Survation, pushing Mahmood below the Technology Secretary.

Other members of the Cabinet saw significant drops in their favourability among Labour members, including Foreign Secretary and Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy, Housing Secretary Steve Reed and Prime Minister Keir Starmer – who now ranks in the bottom four least popular members of his own top team.

Energy Secretary Ed Miliband remains the most favoured member of the Cabinet, with a reduced favourability of +65, followed by Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn with +55, Defence Secretary John Healey on +46 and Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy on +40.

Support for the Prime Minister among party members is strongest in the West Midlands according to the poll, with a favourability of +13 in the region. However, in the North West of England, Starmer’s favourability is lowest at -20.

There is also a stark gender divide in favourability for Keir Starmer, with female Labour members more positive about the Prime Minister at +16, compared to men at -16.

Starmer is among only four Cabinet members to receive a net negative approval rating, alongside Chancellor Rachel Reeves (-2), Liz Kendall (-6) and Shabana Mahmood.

Emma Burnell, editor of LabourList, said: “Keir Starmer falling into the relegation zone should raise serious concerns for the PM. Especially as it comes at a time when he has tried to balance criticisms with the way he has handled the Mandelson crisis with his praiseworthy performance on the international stage.

“If Labour members are weighing up those aspect of his job and still finding him wanting overall there is a lot of work to be done to restore the trust of the membership.

“Equally, Shabana Mahmood knew that her proposed immigration reforms would be unlikely to be popular with Labour members and we have seen that in previous polling on the issue. In the same way that the unpopular welfare reform packages have become a millstone for Liz Kendall – despite a change in role – we are now seeing the same for Mahmood when it comes to immigration reform. It remains to be seen if she can make a case for them that resonates with a membership who will have to sell them on the doorsteps.”

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 1,190 readers of LabourList, the leading dedicated newsletter and news and comment website for Labour supporters, who also said they were Labour Party members between April 17 and 22.

Data was weighted to the profile of party members by age, sex, region, 2020 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 elections.

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