Humiliation for Keir Starmer as majority of Labour members want him gone by next election

More than half of the members of the Labour Party members do not want Sir Keir Starmer to lead the party during the next general election which will take place in 2029, a new poll has revealed. A new survey has found that 53% of Labour members want someone new to lead the party by the time voters go to the polls again. Meanwhile, only 31% believe Starmer should remain in charge.

The Survation survey, conducted for LabourList and shared to Sky News, during Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips, surveyed 1,254 readers of LabourList and found that the call for new leadership was particularly strong among members aged 35 to 44, while nearly two-thirds (63%) favoured a changed, compared to just under half (49%) of members over 65. Even among those who backed Starmer in the 2020 leadership contest, only 43% said they want him to remain leader.

The poll also highlights widespread dissatisfaction with Starmer's performance since taking office. 64% of members said he has governed badly, while just over a third (35%) think he has done well.

65% said they believe the party is heading in the wrong direction, while only 26% of those surveyed said they were convinced it is on the right path.

These findings come just as the Labour Party kicks off its annual conference in Liverpool, an event already described by commentators as a pivotal moment for his leadership amid declining public support and internal unrest.

The Labour Party conference started today, Sunday, September 28, and is taking place until Wednesday, October 1. Ahead of the conference, Labour chairwoman Anna Turley acknowledged it had been "quite a challenging couple of weeks" for the party.

Starmer, however, told the BBC's Sunday with Laura Keunssberg today: "In politics, there always can be comments about leaders and leadership, particularly at times like conference."

He added: "I always focus on what it is we are trying to achieve and what we are delivering."

Another poll that has just come out has found Starmer to be the least popular Prime Minister on record.

The Ipsos poll surveyed more than 1,100 people in the week to September 17 and revealed that only 13% of people are satisfied with the Prime Minister while 79% said they were unsatisfied.

This marks a satisfaction rating of -66%, which surpasses the previous worst rating for a Prime Minister which had been Rishi Sunak in April 2024 and Sir John Major in August 1994 with -59% of net satisfaction.