A majority of the British public wants both Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves to resign, according to a new survey. Polling from Opinium found that 56% of voters think the Prime Minister should step down, while 57% think the same of his Chancellor. Ahead of the Autumn Budget later this month, the survey reveals that Starmer and Reeves are the two least-trusted politicians in the country when it comes to public finances and the economy.

While a small majority of 2024 Labour voters (52%) think the Prime Minister should remain in office, a third want him to resign. The Chancellor’s backing among party supporters is even lower, with 42% believing she should stay in post and 38% saying she should step down. Only 40% of those who voted for Labour in last year’s election trust Reeves on the economy, while almost half (48%) do not.

The news comes following reports late this week that Labour MPs are now “openly plotting” against Starmer. A new poll from Find Out Now this week put the party on just 15% of the vote, in fourth place behind Reform UK, the Greens and the Conservatives. According to the Opinium survey, less than a quarter (22%) of the population believe Starmer and Labour were “open and honest about the challenges facing the UK before the 2024 election”; in contrast, more than six in 10 (61%) think the party and its leader were dishonest.

Opinium’s polling was conducted earlier this week and received answers from a nationally and politically representative sample of 2,050 British adults. According to the survey, Labour is currently in second place on 20% of the vote, 13 points behind Nigel Farage’s Reform on 33%. While Starmer is significantly less popular than any of the other party leaders, with a net approval rating of -45, Farage is still on -10 while Tory leader Kemi Badenoch is on -17.

As well as the unpopularity of Reeves, the British public is notably pessimistic about the upcoming Budget, after the Chancellor reportedly told the Office of Budget Responsibility that she intends to break one of Labour’s manifesto pledges by raising income tax. According to the Opinium polling, 77% of Britons expect taxes to rise, while 61% oppose a raise in income tax, VAT or national insurance on the basis of the Government’s earlier promises. A majority of the public (58%) expect Labour’s decisions on spending and taxation to be “unfair”, compared to just 14% who think they will be “fair”.

In a speech earlier this week, Reeves vowed to “make the choices necessary to deliver strong foundations for our economy” with a Budget “focused entirely on the priorities of the British people”. However, according to the Opinium polling, 50% of voters believe the Chancellor “intended to raise taxes all along”. Only one in five (20%) believe the decision would result from declining economic circumstances in the year since the general election.

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is UnHerd’s Deputy Editor, Newsroom.

RobLownie

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