Keir Starmer’s approval ratings have hit a record low, a City AM/Freshwater Strategy poll has shown, as pressure mounts on the government ahead of the Budget.
Research by City AM and the advisory firm Freshwater Strategy has highlighted the growing discontent among voters over the UK government’s poor performance after a year in office.
Starmer’s net approval hit a record low of minus 41 while Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch’s approval dropped by two points to minus 17.
The monthly poll, which began in January, also showed Nigel Farage’s approval ratings to be in negative territory as it slipped to minus six.
The drop in approval ratings exposes the intense pressure Labour faces ahead of this year’s autumn Budget as Chancellor Rachel Reeves is poised to raise at least £20bn in taxes in order to rebuild her fiscal buffer.
The majority of voters (57 per cent) said they would rather the government made tax and spending cuts while nearly one third (32 per cent) said they would prefer tax increases to fund public services.
Half of Labour voters (51 per cent) said they would prefer tax cuts over more spending.
But desires did not match with expectations as three quarters of voters said they were anticipating tax hikes, with around four in five (78 per cent) claiming they feared the damage taxes could do to the UK economy.
Out of the rumoured tax hikes coming later this year, increasing duties on alcohol and extending national insurance to rental income received the most support.
Introducing capital gains on primary property sales and reducing the tax-free pension lump sum were the least popular tax hikes polled.
Keir Starmer’s focus on economics
The return of parliament on Monday came with a flurry of new appointments made by Starmer aimed at bolstering No10’s policies on the UK economy.
Darren Jones was made the chief secretary to the prime minister after having previously served as chief secretary to the Treasury.
Starmer also recruited former Bank of England deputy governor Minouche Shafik as his economics adviser and Dan York-Smith, a civil servant in the Treasury, as his principal private secretary.
The Conservative opposition said the changes in personnel did not bode well for Rachel Reeves, with shadow business secretary Andrew Griffith claiming Starmer should have “gone the whole hog and fired her”.
Labour will be hoping it can claw back the support that allowed it to secure the largest majority government in 25 years.
But opposition parties will now push to persuade voters to back them at the ballots, with Reform UK’s party conference set to take place this weekend.
Ousted Labour politicians Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana are meanwhile looking to finalise branding for a new party that will challenge the government from the left.
City AM/Freshwater Strategy polling showed voters disliked Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana, with their respective net approval ratings shown to be minus 27 and minus seven.
It is the first time voters were asked about the pair in City AM/Freshwater Strategy’s poll, although a majority of respondents said they had either never heard of Sultana or did not have an opinion on her.
Method note: Freshwater Strategy interviewed n=1,251 eligible voters in the UK, aged 18+ online, between 29-31 August 2025. Margin of Error +/- 2.8%. Data are weighted to be representative of UK voters. Freshwater Strategy are members of the British Polling Council and abide by their rules.