Anas Sarwar backs Starmer after poll finds PM is less popular than Trump

Anas Sarwar has said it is “frankly ridiculous” to be talking about how much confidence he has in Keir Starmer after polling found the PM is less popular than Donald Trump.

Work by Ipsos found that 20 per cent of Scots have a favourable opinion of the US president, but just 16 per cent say the same about Starmer.

Ratings for both Starmer and Scottish Labour leader Sarwar are at the lowest level since the pollster began its Scottish Political Pulse series in October 2022.

While 70 per cent of Scots said Scotland needs fresh leadership, and though fewer than 30 per cent said the current SNP administration deserves to be re-elected next year, even fewer – 19 per cent – think Sarwar’s party is ready to form the next Scottish Government. 

SNP leader John Swinney remains the most popular political leader with a net favourability of -10, compared with -47 for Starmer and -26 for Sarwar.

The figures are a serious blow to Sarwar, who has presented his party as a government in waiting.

Emily Gray, managing director of Ipsos Scotland, said the results “make grim reading for Labour as the party’s annual conference in Liverpool approaches”.

Asked if he still has confidence in Starmer, Sarwar said: “I think even talking in those terms is frankly ridiculous. This is a prime minister who won a historic victory, removed the Tories from office, won a huge landslide, and now has to get on with the job of running the country.”

Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham has said Labour MPs have privately asked him to challenge Starmer for the Labour leadership.

Suggesting Burnham should “continue to serve the great people of Manchester”, Sarwar said people “want to see and feel and hear” about how the Labour UK Government is “benefitting them and their families”. 

Citing lower mortgage costs and higher average wages, he said: “There are lots of great things that our Labour government has done that we have got to be much clearer about, but there are still huge things still to do which are impacting people's daily lives. And I think it'd be unrealistic to think that we solved every problem the country has within 15 months. This is like 14 years of complete horror that was left by the Conservatives.”

On the comparison with Trump, Sarwar said he would not “get into the personality side” of the matter and said John Swinney is “the worst person to be in Bute House” next year. He said: “We have got to get on with the hard work of delivering for the people of Scotland.”