Sir Keir Starmer has been warned there might be “no way back” for him to reconnect with the British public after damning polling put his net favourability down at -33 per cent on his 300th day in Downing Street.
The Prime Minister, who was swept to power with a shallow landslide, is performing significantly lower than both Gordon Brown and Margaret Thatcher.
Brown and Thatcher entered No10 after serious economic shocks, with the Iron Lady needing to wait until 1982 to turn her electoral fortunes around.
Meanwhile, Brown managed to recover from a low-point in the 2009 Local Elections but failed to deny David Cameron victory the following year.
Sir Keir StarmerPA
Sir Keir Starmer performs worse than all of his recent predecessors – excluding Liz Truss
BRITAIN ELECTS
Sir Keir Starmer’s unfavourability spiralled after winning the 2024 General Election
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Nigel FaragePA
Johnson said: “If Starmer wants to paint the contest as Starmer versus Farage then actually voters on the left – Greens and Lib Dems – are more likely to vote Labour tactically because they’re more scared of Farage than they are of Kemi Badenoch.
“When you ask who is the best PM between Starmer and Badenoch, Starmer is on a lower score than when it’s Starmer versus Farage.”
He added: “Making it a binary support between the two actually shores up some of their support on the left. That matters everywhere.
“Regardless of whether it’s Labour campaigning in Grimsby or Labour campaigning in Battersea, it helps Labour against the Tories, as well as against Farage.
“That is a dynamic that won’t hurt Labour. It could squeeze the Tories out. The longer the right is split between the two, the better it is for Starmer.”
