Labour members name Blair as favourite leader – poll

Tony Blair is the most popular Labour leader of the last 40 years among party members, exclusive polling for LabourList reveals.

The poll, conducted by Survation, found that the former prime minister emerged as the top choice among Labour members, nearly 19 years after leaving Downing Street.

A third of members (33 percent) ranked Blair as the best party leader, when given a choice of the men who lead the party between 1983 and 2026.

The second most popular leader was John Smith, who led the party from 1992 before dying suddenly in 1994 at the age of only 55, with 29 percent of members ranking him as their first choice.

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Just under 17 percent of members picked Gordon Brown as the party’s best leader.

More recent leaders fared less well, with current Labour prime minister Keir Starmer named the best performer by only 3 percent of party members.

Ed Miliband, who as energy secretary is highly popular among the party grassroots, received the harshest verdict from the membership. Only 2 percent ranked him as Labour’s best leader.

The polling comes as Labour gears up for potentially another leadership contest, with Andy Burnham and Wes Streeting likely to emerge in the coming weeks as contenders to replace Starmer.

Jeremy Corbyn, who is no longer a Labour member after a turbulent five years years at the top of the party, was ranked as the best leader by 10 per cent of members.

Kinnock, who lost two general elections but helped pave the way for New Labour, was the favourite of just over 6 percent of members.

Emma Burnell, editor of LabourList, said: “Tony Blair won three elections and introduced the minimum wage and Sure Start – achievements Labour members are rightly proud of. While he also made controversial decisions – not least over Iraq – the current membership is clearly willing to approve of his leadership in its totality.

“If you look at the total number of first and second choices that go to Blair and Gordon Brown, it is clear that the membership remain proud of the New Labour era and judge this to have been a successful period of Labour government.”

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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 1,189 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, 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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