ALMOST half of current Labour voters believe Keir Starmer has more public appeal than his predecessor Jeremy Corbyn.
According to a poll by Savanta ComRes, published today, around 47% of UK Labour voters think the party’s leader is more appealing to the public than Corbyn.
However in younger voters, a quarter believe he has less public appeal than the Islington MP.
Of voters aged 18-34, a fifth said they thought Sir Keir was more appealing than Mr Corbyn, while 25% said he had less appeal. Around a third (32%) thought he was the same as his predecessor.
READ MORE: Poll shows Labour support lowest level under Keir Starmer
The polling firm surveyed 2,094 UK adults ages 18 and older between April 16 and 18 about their views on the Labour party, voting intentions and their opinions of Sir Keir Starmer.
Along with comparisons between the current Labour leader and his predecessor, voters were also asked if they felt his party was now more unified under his leadership.
Three in ten agreed that Labour was now more unified under Starmer, while 34% said it was in the same state. Of those who voted for Labour in 2019, 38% said they felt the party was now more unified, while 16% said it was more divided.
More than a third of people who would vote for Labour now say the party’s policies are better under Starmer (36%), while 39% say they are the same.
Compared to Savanta ComRes’ other polls, the latest survey shows the Conservatives having the largest lead since May 2020, with the party up one point to 43% and Labour at 34% (-1). The SNP, Greens, Lib Dems and other parties results stayed the same at 5, 7, 4 and 7% respectively.
Chris Hopkins, Political Research Director at Savanta ComRes said: "For much of his leadership, it has seemed that Keir Starmer’s main play to voters has been simply not being Jeremy Corbyn, and while that’s had some impact among the public, it simply hasn’t done enough to convince many voters who have abandoned Labour to come back to the party.
“On many metrics, including being more likely to win an election and having better policies, those who voted Conservative in 2019 view Starmer’s Labour identically to how they viewed Corbyn’s.
“With the voting intention gap between the two parties the widest its been in a Savanta ComRes poll in almost a year, Starmer is in danger of taking Labour backwards unless he can start doing more to claw back voters.”
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