Mark McGeoghegan: There's as much demand for right-wing politics here as in England
This weekend will mark the end of Sir Keir Starmer’s first 100 days in Downing Street and the new Labour UK Government’s first 100 days in power. I suspect you will not need me to recount the Government’s issues in that period, from questionable donations and unpopular policymaking to the resignation of Sue Gray.
That rocky beginning may end with one silver lining, with Conservative MPs voting to put Kemi Badenoch and Richard Jenrick through to the vote of Conservative Party members. Badenoch is prone to starting monumentally stupid political fights, and Jenrick’s idea of sound strategy is to tack to the right of whatever position Nigel Farage holds. One Labour MP cheekily asked the Guardian’s Political Editor, Pippa Crerar, whether the result had to be declared as a gift.
But I suspect Downing Street is not celebrating yet. The days when a government could rely on an unelectable main Opposition party to keep it in power are potentially behind us, and the new government’s deepening unpopularity cannot be papered over as easily as it could have been in past election cycles.
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According to YouGov, net favourability towards Sir Keir stood at 0 in mid-July, following the election, but has since fallen to -36. The Government’s net approval rating has likewise declined from -2 in late July to -41 now, on par with the -40 YouGov recorded immediately before Boris Johnson’s resignation in June 2023, and favourability towards the Labour Party has fallen from 1 immediately after the election to -29 today. Around a third of those who voted Labour in July are now unfavourable towards Sir Keir and his party, and 39% disapprove........
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