Kemi Badenoch cuts two points off Labour’s lead in her first week as Tory leader
Exclusive: The latest weekly tracker poll by Techne UK suggests that Kemi Badenoch has already made an impression on voters
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Kemi Badenoch has cut into Sir Keir Starmer’s poll lead in her first week as Conservative Party leader, closing the gap by two points.
The Techne UK weekly tracker poll for The Independent has revealed in the week since she took over from Rishi Sunak, Ms Badenoch has increased the Conservative support by one point to 25 per cent while Labour has fallen a point to 29 per cent reducing the gap from six points to four.
It comes in a difficult week for Sir Keir’s government with continued anger over the £40bn tax rises in the Budget – particularly the farm inheritance tax raid and the increase in employer contributions to national insurance.
But the reduction in Labour’s lead will be seen as an early personal boost for Ms Badenoch, who was praised for having a strong first showing at Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, skewering Sir Keir on his ministers’ past attacks on Donald Trump as the world digested his election victory in America.
She has not had a perfect start with questions over a social media rape joke she made before she was an MP which remained on her Facebook page. Added to that the US election has overshadowed her first week in charge.
The poll offered less good news for Nigel Farage who received no extra bounce from his friend and ally in the US taking back the White House. Reform UK remained stuck at 18 per cent, although still a long way higher than their election showing of 14 per cent.
Sir Ed Davey’s attack on Mr Trump failed to impress voters enough to see support for the Lib Dems hold firm with their share dropping a point to 13 per cent. The Greens remained unchanged at 7 per cent.
Despite the poll boost, data in the polling of 1,632 voters over Wednesday and Thursday this week suggested that Ms Badenoch has a long way to go to turn her party’s fortunes around.
Labour still leads in every age category under 45 while the Conservative lead among older voters remains at four points with 55 to 64-year-olds. Where the Tories have made huge gains is among pensioners after chancellor Rachel Reeves cancelled winter fuel payments with Ms Badenoch holding a 12-point lead in this category.
Support for both Labour and Tories appears to not be holding firm from the election with around a quarter of their supporters in July abandoning both parties.
But one sign of hope for Ms Badenoch is that confidence in the government continues to fall dropping a point to 31 per cent this week.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments