Brits pour scorn on Labour after week from hell
Brits have delivered a withering verdict on Labour after a week in which the anniversary of their election victory was marred by shambolic u-turns and infighting.
Following the dramatic events of last week, voters’ disapproval of the government appears to have intensified with a growing number of Brits opposing the government’s high-tax-high-spending policies, according to the latest City PM/Freshwater Strategy poll.
The poll of eligible voters found that more than half (55 per cent) believe Rachel Reeves should resign while Keir Starmer, who has insisted Reeves will remain chancellor for a “very long time”, is also facing the pressure.
His approval ratings have crashed to minus 38; making him the least popular politician in City PM‘s monthly survey with fully 61 per cent of Brits now reporting a negative opinion of the PM. The Chancellor also slipped to an approval rating of minus 37.
In a sign the government was struggling to retain voters, the poll revealed nearly one in three voters who backed Labour at the last election (32 per cent) now said they regretted having done so.
Only 17 per cent of voters believed Labour has done “a good job” after a year in office, with 61 per cent saying the government has done “a poor job”.
A majority of Brits (65 per cent) said they have done a poor job on easing the cost of living with the same percentage unimpressed by efforts to reduce immigration.
A similar percentage of voters said the government has done a poor job on welfare reform.
Labour not trusted on immigration
The latest snapshot provides insight into the challenges facing the government just 12 months on from their election win, with more voters now seeing immigration as the most important issue facing the UK.
Small boat crossings are 50 per cent higher this year than at the same point in 2024 while forecasters believe that overall levels of migration will only be cut to 250,000 entrants a year (pre-Brexit levels) by 2030.
Labour ranked worse than the Conservative Party in terms of trust on reducing immigration.
Voters also put inflation near the top of their list of most important issues.
Economists in the City and at the Bank of England have warned that Rachel Reeves’ taxes on employers through higher national insurance contributions (NICs) was feeding through to higher prices in shops.
The City PM poll shows that only 25 per cent of voters have confidence in the government’s efforts to spark economic growth, with 72 per cent either not very or not at all confident.
Tax rises on the cards
Treasury officials including Rachel Reeves have celebrated a string of interest rate cuts in the last year but global economic turmoil due to tariffs and higher taxes risks delaying further reductions in the coming months, policymakers have warned.
Reeves could decide to hike taxes further in this year’s Autumn Budget given unfunded commitments on welfare spending and the partial restoration of winter fuel payments, altogether costing more than £5bn.
The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has suggested that the chancellor could extend a freeze on income tax thresholds, raising some £9bn, though City analysts have warned that the Treasury may have to find three times as much in terms of receipts to rebuild Reeves’ fiscal buffer.
Method note: Freshwater Strategy interviewed n=1,259 eligible voters in the UK, aged 18+ online, between 4-6 July 2025. Margin of Error +/- 2.8%. Data are weighted to be representative of UK voters. Freshwater Strategy are members of the British Polling Council and abide by their rules.