At various dates in the run up to the 2024 general election on 4 July 2024, various organisations have carried out opinion polling to gauge the opinions that voters hold towards political leaders. The polling companies listed are members of the British Polling Council (BPC) and abide by its disclosure rules. The date range for opinion polls is from the 2019 general election, held on 12 December, to the eve of the 2024 election.
Leadership approval ratings
Rishi Sunak
The following polls asked about voters' opinions on Rishi Sunak, leader of the Conservative Party and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom since October 2022.
Graphical summary
2024
2023
2022
Keir Starmer
The following polls asked about voters' opinions on Keir Starmer, leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition since April 2020.
Graphical summary
2024
2023
2022
2021
2020
Ed Davey
The following polls asked about voters' opinions on Ed Davey, leader of the Liberal Democrats since August 2020.
Graphical summary
2024
2022
2021
2020
Approval ratings for former party leaders
Nicola Sturgeon
The following polls asked about voters' opinions on Nicola Sturgeon, leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) and first minister of Scotland from November 2014 to March 2023. These polls asked the opinions of British voters, not specifically Scottish voters.
2021
2020
2019
Liz Truss
The following polls asked about voters' opinions on Liz Truss, leader of the Conservative Party and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 6 September 2022 to 25 October 2022.
Graphical summary
2022
Boris Johnson
The following polls asked about voters' opinions on Boris Johnson, leader of the Conservative Party and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 24 July 2019 to 6 September 2022.
2022
2021
2020
2019
Siân Berry and Jonathan Bartley
The following polls asked about voters' opinions on Siân Berry and Jonathan Bartley, co-leaders of the Green Party from 4 September 2018 to 31 July 2021.
2021
2020
Nigel Farage
The following polls asked about voters' opinions on Nigel Farage, leader of Reform UK (formerly named Brexit Party).
2021
2020
2019
Jeremy Corbyn
The following polls asked about voters' opinions on Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of the Labour Party until 4 April 2020.
2020
2019
Preferred prime minister polling
Some opinion pollsters ask voters which of the Conservative and Labour party leaders they would prefer as prime minister. The questions differ slightly from pollster to pollster:
- Opinium: "Which, if any, of the following people do you think would be the best prime minister?"
- BMG Research: "If you had to choose between the two, who would you prefer to see as the next Prime Minister?"
- YouGov / Survation: "Which of the following do you think would make the best Prime Minister?"
- Ipsos MORI: "Who do you think would make the most capable Prime Minister, the Conservative’s Boris Johnson, or Labour’s Sir Keir Starmer?"
- ICM: "Putting aside which party you support, and only thinking about your impressions of them as leaders, which one of the following do you think would make the best Prime Minister for Britain?"
- Savanta: "Which of the following politicians do you think would make the best Prime Minister?"
- Redfield & Wilton: "At this moment, which of the following individuals do you think would be the better Prime Minister for the United Kingdom?"
- J.L. Partners: "Which of Boris Johnson and Keir Starmer is doing a better job overall at the moment?"
- Focaldata: "If you had to pick one of the following, who do you think would make the best Prime Minister?"
- Omnisis: "Which of the following do you think would be the better Prime Minister?"
Sunak v Starmer
2024
2023
2022
2021
2020
Truss vs Starmer
2022
Johnson vs Starmer
2022
2021
2020
Preferred prime minister and chancellor polling
Between 2020 and 2022, some pollsters asked voters which potential Prime Minister/Chancellor of the Exchequer pairing they would prefer. Each pollster uses the following wording for this question:
- Deltapoll: "Putting aside any support for a political party you may have, which of the following do you think would be best for the British economy?"
- Ipsos MORI: "do you think that a Labour Government with Keir Starmer as Prime Minister and Rachel Reeves as Chancellor of the Exchequer would do a better or worse job ... than the present government has done at managing the economy?"
- Opinium: "Which, if any, of the following would you say you trust more to handle the economy?"
Johnson and Sunak vs Starmer and Reeves
Graphical summary
Polls conducted
2022
2021
Johnson and Sunak vs Starmer and Dodds
Graphical summary
Polls conducted
2021
2020
Hypothetical polling
Some pollsters conduct surveys to compare figures who are not both party leaders. These could include a comparison of leading politicians within the same party (to gauge support for future leadership contests), or compare the current leader of one party to an alternative leader of a second. The politicians listed below include:
- Boris Johnson, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
- Keir Starmer, Leader of the Labour Party
- Rishi Sunak, Chancellor of the Exchequer
- Michael Gove, Minister for the Cabinet Office
- Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester
Johnson vs Sunak
- Redfield & Wilton: "At this moment, which of the following individuals do you think would be the better Prime Minister for the United Kingdom?"
- Ipsos MORI: "Who do you think would make the most capable Prime Minister"
- J.L. Partners: "Of the following two politicians, who do you think would make the best Prime Minister?"
2022
2021
2020
Johnson vs Burnham
Starmer vs Burnham
Gove vs Sunak
Topical polling
COVID-19 handling
The following polls asked people which leader they think would better handle the COVID-19 pandemic.
See also
- Opinion polling for the 2024 United Kingdom general election
- Potential re-accession of the United Kingdom to the European Union
References
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