John Healey sees approval dip among Labour members ahead of Budget

Chancellor John Healey has seen his approval rating among Labour members drop significantly since he first entered Number 11, exclusive polling for LabourList has found.

Healey’s approval fell by 14 points since July among party members, but remained among the highest of his Cabinet colleagues at +49.

The poll, conducted by Survation, also saw significant drops in favourability among other ministers, including Education Secretary Lucy Powell, Welsh Secretary Stephen Kinnock and Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh.

Support for government ministers overall among Labour members remains high at an average of +30, although it has dropped from +35 in July.

The dip in Healey’s approval rating comes as party officials and activists head to Liverpool for Labour Party conference, and just weeks ahead of Healey’s first Budget as Chancellor.

READ MORE: Labour Party Conference 2026: Full LabourList events programme, revealed

Prime Minister Andy Burnham remains the most approved member of the government, with a net favourability rating of +81, up five points from our last poll.

His sky-high approval is broadly consistent across the regions and nations of the UK – with a ‘low’ of +74 in Scotland and a high of +92 in Yorkshire and the Humber.

However, there remains a slight divide in support for the Prime Minister based on how members voted in last year’s deputy leadership election. Burnham’s net approval stands at +91 among members who voted for Lucy Powell, while those who supported Bridget Phillipson gave him a net approval of +68.

Burnham is followed in the Cabinet rankings by Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband with +68 and Housing Secretary Angela Rayner with +55.

At the bottom end of our league table, Defence Secretary Wes Streeting remains the least favoured member of the Cabinet and the only minister to receive a net negative approval rating at -1. However, his approval has jumped since July by 10 points, from -11.

Khan remains most approved of Labour mayor

LabourList also polled party members’ approval of Labour’s metro mayors, with London Mayor Sadiq Khan topping the list with a net favourability of +73.

Khan’s approval rating makes him the second most favoured Labour politician, behind only the Prime Minister.

Steve Rotheram, Liverpool City Region Mayor and close friend of Andy Burnham, also scored highly among Labour members, with a net favourability of +56, closely followed by West Yorkshire Mayor Tracy Brabin with +53.

Andy Burnham’s successor as Greater Manchester Mayor Bev Craig received an approval rating from members of +32.

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Editor of LabourList Emma Burnell said: “While cabinet members might be looking at the trends going up and down, overall this is good news for the government. The cabinet remains popular among members, with all but Wes Streeting having overall positive ratings. And Wes can take cheer in the fact that his trend is positive, rising by 10 points. 

“As members look to the budget to see how different the approach taken under Burnham will be, it is clear that Healey is under pressure to deliver what Labour members want to hear, and that there are nerves creeping in that he won’t. At the moment this remains speculation, and I look forward to hearing more about Healey’s approach as he speaks to conference this week.”

Damian Lyons Lowe, chief executive of Survation, said: “What stands out in this wave is that Andy Burnham’s rating has gone up since July, not down. The normal pattern for a new leader is a honeymoon that erodes as government decisions accumulate; instead, three months in, his net rating has risen five points to +81, and it holds above +65 among members who backed Bridget Phillipson for deputy as well as those who backed Lucy Powell.

“A leader who can carry both wings of the membership at those levels has more room to make difficult choices than most of his predecessors enjoyed.

“Expect a conference love-in in Liverpool this week – but this may well be as good as it gets before the big decisions of the autumn, the Budget above all, which is where the rubber really hits the road.”

Survation, a member of the British Polling Council and a Market Research Society Partner, surveyed 1,073 readers of LabourList who also said they were Labour Party members between September 19 and 22.

Data was weighted to the profile of Labour Party Members. Data were weighted by region, sex, age group and 2025 deputy leadership vote. Targets for weighting were drawn from the British Election Study and the result of the 2025 deputy leadership election.

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