Nearly half of Britons believe Andy Burnham would make a better Prime Minister than Nigel Farage, with Labour benefiting from the momentum built in the new Labour leader’s first week in the top job. Over the last two years, Labour have increasingly seen Reform UK as their main opponent, but at present, the party's leader Nigel Farage does not appear to be a threat for the new PM. The so-called ‘Burnham bounce’ has seen the new Labour leader overtake Reform UK in recent days.
YouGov Poll Results
In a new set of YouGov polls asking who would make the best PM, Britons consistently tend to believe Mr Burnham would be the better prime minister than the leaders of the other major parties, by margins varying from 12 to 36 points. In a head-to-head against Mr Farage, 48 per cent of Britons backed Andy Burnham, while just over a fifth (22 per cent) thought the Reform leader was the best man for the top job.
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch is the opponent who many voters feel would make a better PM than Burnham. But even then, nearly four in ten (38 per cent) feel the fledgling Labour leader would be more effective at the job, compared with 26 per cent favouring the Tory leader. It’s a marked contrast with how Keir Starmer fared on this question in May, when he only led against two of his opponents, with his greatest margin being ten points against Mr Farage.
The latest findings are a significant improvement for Mr Burnham since last month, when the public was close to divided on who would be the best leader – 32 per cent chose the Labour leader while 28 per cent favoured Mrs Badenoch.
Lead Over Other Party Leaders
The Prime Minister’s lead is even more substantial over the leaders of other parties, with the public feeling he would be a better PM than Lib Dem leader Ed Davey – by 41 per cent to eight percent – and a more successful head of government than Green leader Zack Polanski –by as much as 45 per cent to nine percent.
Mr Burnham, who returned to Westminster after winning the Makerfield by-election on June 18, was only appointed PM just over a week ago. Since then he has made a series of policy announcements, including a tax cut on energy bills, a £2 cap on bus fares and a cut to business rates for pubs and clubs.
Bloc Politics and Expert Warning
The latest YouGov findings also reflect the growing element of ‘bloc’ politics in the British party system. Just over half of Lib Dem and Green voters (52 and 53 per cent) prefer Mr Burnham, while Reform UK voters feel Mrs Badenoch would make a better PM than the Labour leader by a decisive margin of 52 percent to six percent. Meanwhile, nearly two fifths (38 per cent) of Conservative voters see Farage as potentially being a better PM than Burnham.
But polling guru Professor Sir John Curtice has warned this may only be a temporary bounce. He told one newspaper: “This is normal. The only new prime minister not to get a bounce in the polls was Liz Truss. When Gordon Brown replaced Tony Blair it was worth seven points, Theresa May had four points when replacing David Cameron, Boris Johnson six points when replacing May, and Rishi Sunak four points after replacing Johnson. The question for Andy Burnham is how long this will last and only time will tell on that.”
