LabourList poll reveals party’s favourite ministers in Burnham’s top team

The favourability of Andy Burnham’s new Cabinet team has been revealed in a new LabourList poll.

The new Prime Minister tops the list of new ministers with a net approval among Labour members of +76. Burnham dethrones Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband from pole position, after consistently being the most approved of member of Starmer’s government.

The poll, conducted by Survation, also revealed that Chancellor John Healey and Housing Secretary Angela Rayner hold extremely high approval ratings among the party membership, at +63 and +60, respectively.

Polling also found that almost two-thirds (62 percent) of members were satisfied with Burnham’s Cabinet appointments, compared with just one in five (22 percent) feeling disappointed by his choices.

Burnham’s astronomically high approval saw some slight variation by region, reaching a net favourability of +89 in Yorkshire and the Humber, and a ‘low’ of +43 in Wales.

The poll also revealed a noticeable split in Burnham support in how members voted in last year’s deputy leadership election.

While Powell supporters gave Burnham a +89 favourability rating, Phillipson voters were less positive about the new Prime Minister, giving him a net approval of +51 – a 38-point gap.

‘Burnham bounce’ for most continuing ministers

Of the 14 ministers who remained in Burnham’s Cabinet post-reshuffle, nine have seen a ‘Burnham bounce’ in approval among party members.

Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds saw the greatest increase in favourability, jumping from +32 in April to +52 in our latest poll.

However, Defence Secretary and former leadership contender Wes Streeting has seen his favourability plummet among Labour members, falling from +21 in April to -11 – the lowest score of any of the new Cabinet.

Only one other Cabinet minister received a negative favourability rating – Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, although her approval has increased by nine points from April.

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Emma Burnell, editor of LabourList, said: “Labour members are, overall, extremely positive about the new government. The tone, direction and pace we have seen in the first week have been well received and Labour members are, indeed, feeling hope in their hearts.

“As the new government implements the policies they have outlined, Labour members – like all voters – will want to see delivery on the ground. The tough choices that faced Starmer have not gone away, so it remains to be seen whether Burnham’s new approach will remain as popular. 

“However, what is clear is that the Labour Party from the cabinet to the membership is infused with a new energy and a new sense of self-belief.”

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Damian Lyons Lowe, chief executive of Survation, which conducted the poll, said: “Andy
Burnham takes office with the membership more united behind him than at any point we have
measured: +76 net favourability, with 62 percent satisfied with the Cabinet he has assembled against 22 percent dissatisfied.

“Six months ago, he stood at +41 – his lowest reading in our series, taken immediately after the
NEC blocked his return to Parliament. That figure hid a party split down the middle: using last
year’s deputy leadership vote as a marker of where members sat on the Starmer government,
he was on +76 among Lucy Powell’s backers but −18 among Bridget Phillipson’s. Today it is
+89 and +51. His support among ‘change’ members has barely moved, because it was already
near the ceiling; support among the ‘continuity Keir’ members has swung 69 points.

“Most of the ministers he kept have been lifted with him – nine of the fourteen continuing Cabinet members are more popular than in April; Jonathan Reynolds furthest, from +32 to +52. Wes Streeting had been climbing, +13 in February to +21 in April, but now sits at −11: the lowest score in the Cabinet and a 32-point fall in a single wave. The membership is already drawing distinctions, and the real test comes when there is a record to judge.”

Survation, a member of the British Polling Council and a Market Research Society Partner, surveyed 812 readers of LabourList who also said they were Labour Party members between July 24 and 27.

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 leadership elections.

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