The Government’s approval rating has collapsed once again to a record-low, thanks to Rachel Reeves’ disastrous spring statement. Respected pollster YouGov has found that Labour’s net approval rating has reached -54, with approval down five points since March.
Meanwhile disapproval is up eight points, meaning a total fall in support by 13 points. This means the current Labour government is just five points more popular than Rishi Sunak’s Conservative government when he called the general election – something the Tories had taken 14 years to achieve. Sir Keir’s administration last hit this level of unpopularity in late February, before rising slightly around the time of his visit to the White House and meeting with Donald Trump.
YouGov finds Labour is more unpopular than ever (Image: YouGov)
The collapse in approval comes shortly after Rachel Reeves delivered her spring statement last Wednesday, which included a number of unpopular measures including cuts to welfare.
The cuts have now provoked a major backlash, including among Labour MPs who say they will rebel and vote against the spending reductions on Personal Independence Payments and Universal Credit.
The spring statement also proved a humiliation for Ms Reeves, who made economic growth a main plank of Labour’s general election campaign.
Rachel Reeves’ spring statement has caused a slump in popularity (Image: Parliament Live)
On Wednesday she confirmed that the OBR had slashed Britain’s forecasted growth this year from 2% to 1%, something she blamed on Donald Trump and the global economy’s turbulence.
Last week YouGov’s poll tracking Rachel Reeves’ popularity found she has maintained a negative rating of -42, and is one of the most unpopular members of Sir Keir Starmer’s government.
Responding to today’s poll, political commentator Steven Barrett quipped: “We really need to find this 14% of people who approve of the Government”.
