Farage beats Starmer in every respect except one, poll finds

 Reform leader comes out on top – apart from when voters are asked which leader is an ‘honest person’

13 July 2025 

Daily Telegraph 

Link

Nigel Farage is more in touch with ordinary people and pays greater attention to detail, according to the Ipsos survey

Voters believe Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, is better than Sir Keir Starmer in almost every respect but is less honest than him, according to a poll.

Mr Farage is seen as being more in touch with ordinary people, paying greater attention to detail and being a stronger leader than the Prime Minister.

A new survey by Ipsos asked respondents whether they felt certain positive characteristics applied to Sir Keir, Mr Farage or Kemi Badenoch, the Tory leader.

The Reform leader came out on top in every question, apart from when voters had to say which of the leaders they believed was an “honest person”.

It comes as Reform continues to surge in the polls, with Ipsos finding that the party is ahead of Labour and the Conservatives.

Reform exceeded expectations at the local elections in May, when it gained over 600 councillors and won the parliamentary seat of Runcorn and Helsby from Labour.

More than 50 per cent of voters said that Mr Farage had “a lot of personality”, compared to 21 per cent saying the same of the Prime Minister.

Thirty seven per cent said they felt Mr Farage was a capable leader, and 41 per cent said they would describe him as a strong leader, compared to 31 per cent and 26 per cent for Sir Keir.

But a third of respondents said that the Prime Minister was honest, compared to 29 per cent for Mr Farage.

Sir Keir suffered the biggest fall in approval rating after winning an election of any prime minister in the modern era, despite his landslide 174-seat majority.

Despite the vast number of Labour MPs, ministers have struggled to pass key legislation because of the discontent on the backbenches.

The largest rebellion of the Prime Minister’s career meant that he was forced to back down on several elements of his welfare reforms, eradicating billions in planned savings.

Other policies that have attracted widespread criticism, include the scrapping of the universal winter fuel payment for pensioners, which Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor, has had to partly reverse.

The new polling also found that just a quarter of people believe that Ms Reeves will still be Chancellor by the next general election.

The number of voters who think that Sir Keir understands the problems facing Britain has fallen by 18 per cent since the general election last year.

The latest poll also found that voters judged Mr Farage to be “good in a crisis” at 27 per cent, compared to 26 per cent for Sir Keir. Mrs Badenoch received just 18 per cent.