Since returning to power in July’s general election, Labour’s first few months in office have been shaky, with reception to their policies mostly negative, key politicians falling in popularity and controversies tainting their image.
Now, a new YouGov poll has found that 43 per cent of Britons say Labour has not done anything positive yet and have a negative opinion of the party.
When asked to think about the “best single thing” the Labour Government has done since coming into power in July, almost four in ten could not think of anything.
The poll, conducted between October 4 to 6, asked for respondents' answers in their own words, which YouGov’s AI language model categorised into categories outlined below.
Some 43 per cent of all Britons say Labour have done nothing yet in their first 100 days in office
YouGov
As expected, the feeling that Labour has done nothing positive in office so far is strongest amongst parties more opposed to Labour, with 61 per cent of Conservatives and 72 per cent of Reform UK voters taking this view of the Government.
This is also the most common sentiment among those who voted Labour in July, with more than one in five Labour voters (22 per cent) also saying the Government has not yet made a single positive improvement.
Labour voters are, however, more able to pick out successes than voters in other parties.
One in ten (10 per cent) of Labour voters see the Government’s honesty about the state of the economy as their top source of praise.
And around one in ten (4-6 per cent) single out Labour’s handling of the riots, early steps on reforming the NHS, reforms to the energy sector, ending public sector strikes, scrapping the Rwanda scheme and means-testing the winter fuel payments as the best thing they’ve done.
When asked about the worst thing the Labour Government has done so far, Britons had an easier time selecting an answer with only four per cent feeling the Government has done nothing that could be described as the “worst”.
The response that was dominant above all others was the means testing of winter fuel payments for pensioners with one in three (34 per cent) seeing this as the biggest fault.
A further three per cent view the perceived “hitting” of pensioners and the poor spending cuts as Labour’s biggest failure so far.
Labour voters are just as likely as the population at large to see it as a top mistake, while 42 per cent of Reform UK voters and 52 per cent of Conservatives list it as the worst mistake so far.
The freebies scandal is also a negative action highlighted by the second largest number of Britons, with seven per cent of the public, including one in eight (12 per cent) of Labour voters saying it is the worst thing the Government has done in its first 100 days.
Some 34 per cent of Britons think means-testing the winter fuel payments is the worst thing Labour has done so far
YouGov
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Reform UK voters have a slightly different take on the failings of the new Government with one in nine (11 per cent) viewing Labour’sperceived inaction on immigration and ending the Rwanda scheme as their biggest failure and a further seven per cent feeling “everything” Labour has done counts as their worst action.
Perceptions of Labour’s failures also differ by age with six in ten of over 65s (61 per cent) singling out means testing the winter fuel payments as Labour’s worst mistake.
However, among those aged 18 to 24, only nine per cent see the winter fuel payments as the worst action.
A large amount (46 per cent) of this age group don’t know what the single worst action the Government has taken is, while eight per cent say it is supporting Israel and seven per cent point to the freebie scandal.
The poll surveyed 2121 GB adults last month in the lead-up to Starmer’s 100th day in office.
