Poll shows more voters want Starmer to resign than wanted Brexit

A new poll shows that 54% of potential UK voters want Keir Starmer to resign. This is a higher percentage than those who voted for the UK to leave the European Union in 2016:

Note: the chart is correct at 54%.

— Opinium (@OpiniumResearch) September 20, 2025

Unpopularity contest – with Starmer winning it

Opinium note the situation has significantly deteriorated for Labour since they took power. At the same time, Reform’s fortunes have grown:

Reform is currently on 31% (+1 on a fortnight ago) of the vote, followed by Labour 22% (-1), the Conservatives 17% (-1), and the Liberal Democrats 12% (n/c). When looking at voting intention among those who voted Labour in the General Election in 2024, only 67% would pick Labour again, whilst 12% would now choose Reform, 6% Liberal Democrats, 6% the Green Party, and 2% would vote for the Conservatives.

While the majority of 2024 Labour voters want Starmer to stay in position, a sizeable percentage would prefer he resign:

🚨Latest Opinium @ObserverUK polling🚨

A third (34%) of people who voted for Keir Starmer’s Labour only last year now want the prime minister to resign and be replaced with someone else. pic.twitter.com/l1tfAQdScy

— Opinium (@OpiniumResearch) September 20, 2025

Opinium added:

Keir Starmer’s approval rating has suffered a further slump, dropping 2 points in the last fortnight to net -42%. This is joint with Rishi Sunak’s lowest score post-“D-Daygate” (net -42%) and almost near Boris Johnson’s net -44% after his government collapsed.

Perhaps more damningly, 2024 Labour voters only just give him a net positive rating, with 39% disapproving of the job he is doing while 41% approve.

Overall, just under a quarter (23%) still think Starmer would make the best Prime Minister – giving him a 9-point lead over Kemi Badenoch (13%). However, a majority (52%) now say neither leader would make the best Prime Minister.

In a 17 September Canary article, we looked at YouGov polling on approval, and found that:

the Starmer government’s approval is:

• Better than the crisis points before Theresa May and Liz Truss resigned.
• Equal to Rishi Sunak’s at the point when he lost the general election.
• Significantly worse than the lowest moments for David Cameron and Boris Johnson.

Challengers

Reporting on the potential longevity of Starmer’s premiership, Opinium reported:

Just over half (54%) of UK adults now think Starmer should resign, including a third (34%) of 2024 Labour voters. By way of comparison, this is higher than the 45% who called for Sunak to resign in April 2024.

When asked about who would be the best replacement, Andy Burnham is the top pick (13%), followed by Wes Streeting (5%). Burnham has the highest net acceptability (+12 acceptable), with Streeting in second place (-4 acceptable).

🚨Latest Opinium @ObserverUK polling🚨

Andy Burnham is the only person we tested who is seen as more acceptable than not as a potential replacement Labour leader and PM (36% acceptable, 25% unacceptable).

Wes Streeting sits in second place (26% acceptable, 29% unacceptable) pic.twitter.com/5ZOhj4zL5J

— Opinium (@OpiniumResearch) September 20, 2025

As reported by the Canary, Burnham is said to be considering a run at the leadership:

Will Andy Burnham become another Corbyn with his challenge to Keir Starmer?

It says a lot about how shallow the Labour bench is that the only serious challenger, Burnham, is outside the parliamentary party… https://t.co/drjqS7jpuI

— Canary (@TheCanaryUK) September 14, 2025

Trade doesn’t mean diddly when it comes to Starmer

Opinium’s polling was conducted in the same period that Labour announced its new trade deal with the US. Labour argued this deal showed them delivering on their promises, but critics accused them of allowing US ‘vulture capitalists’ to asset strip the UK, as we reported in the following article:

One economist said “Starmer has been well and truly shafted” as fears mount that the UK has just stumbled into an asset stripping deal

By @willem_moore_uk https://t.co/eRxDmAFwbG

— Canary (@TheCanaryUK) September 19, 2025

Labour MP Clive Lewis accused Starmer of selling out British “values”:

Nothing screams “Mandelson-brokered deal” like auctioning off our values to BlackRock & Palantir for £150bn and a handshake with Trump.

If investment comes at the price of our values, it’s not a bargain.
It’s a bribe. pic.twitter.com/CNVwvm4c9f

— Clive Lewis MP (@labourlewis) September 18, 2025

Featured image via Number 10 (Flickr)