Farah Hussain and Karl Pike use new polling findings to shed light on Keir Starmer’s performance in opposition. They show how unconvinced the public is of his ‘constructive opposition’ strategy

Hussain, Farah

Pike, Karl

English

LSE Research Online

Public	perceptions	of	Keir	Starmer’s	performancesuggest	he	has	yet	to	produce	a	clear	narrative	ofboth	the	COVID-19	crisis	and	his	leadershipFarah	Hussain	and	Karl	Pike	use	new	polling	findings	to	shed	light	on	KeirStarmer’s	performance	in	opposition.	They	show	how	unconvinced	the	public	is	ofhis	‘constructive	opposition’	strategy.When	Keir	Starmer	was	elected	leader	of	the	Labour	Party	in	April	2020,	hecommitted	to	an	approach	of	‘constructive	opposition’	during	the	pandemic.	Hecharacterised	Labour’s	approach	in	these	terms	again	in	August	2020,	and	thisstrategy	has	been	much	discussed	since.	Has	Starmer	delivered	the	right	balance	between	avoiding	both‘opposition	for	opposition’s	sake’	and	appearing	absent	from	critical	political	debates?We	tested	public	perceptions	of	Starmer’s	performance	as	leader	of	the	opposition,	in	particular	the	approach	of‘constructive	opposition’,	for	a	large	survey	we	commissioned	from	Ipsos	MORI	about	the	public’s	future	policypriorities,	and	attitudes	to	politics	and	governance	during	the	pandemic.	We	defined	‘constructive	opposition’	as‘comments	and	questions	that	have	a	useful	purpose	in	getting	the	government	to	do	its	job	better’.	In	other	words,an	approach	that	doesn’t	criticise	for	what	appears	to	be	political	advantage,	but	rather	in	furthering	the	‘nationalinterest’	and	improving	outcomes	–	not	far	from	how	Starmer	elaborated	on	the	approach	himself	in	his	speechupon	being	elected	as	Labour’s	leader.For	Starmer,	the	results	are	at	best	mixed.	The	largest	group	of	people	(35%)	believe	that	he	has	done	either	afairly	or	very	bad	job	at	‘constructive	opposition’;	29%	think	that	he	is	doing	neither	a	good	nor	bad	job;	while	27%think	that	he	is	doing	either	a	fairly	good	or	very	good	job.Figure	1:	Public	views	on	Labour’s	‘constructive	opposition’	approachThere	is,	of	course,	a	big	difference	among	2019	Conservative	and	Labour	voters	–	49%	of	2019	Conservativevoters	opted	for	a	fairly	or	very	bad	job,	while	48%	of	2019	Labour	voters	opted	for	a	fairly	or	very	good	job.	Evenso,	the	response	of	2019	Labour	voters	is	hardly	a	strong	endorsement	for	this	approach.Figure	2:	Views	on	Labour’s	‘constructive	opposition’	approach	by	2019	voteBritish Politics and Policy at LSE: Public perceptions of Keir Starmer’s performance suggest he has yet to produce a clear narrative of both the COVID-19crisis and his leadershipPage 1 of 3		Date originally posted: 2021-05-14Permalink: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/starmer-dilemma/Blog homepage: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/We	also	asked	about	perceptions	of	whether	Starmer	has	criticised	the	government	too	little,	too	much,	or	has	gotthe	balance	about	right.	The	results	indicate	a	clear	dilemma	for	the	Labour	leader.	Opinion	is	deeply	divided:	27%of	people	said	that	he	has	criticised	the	government	broadly	the	right	amount;	29%	(rounded	total)	that	he	has	beena	bit	or	far	too	critical;	and	31%	say	that	he	has	not	been	quite	or	nearly	as	critical	as	he	should	have	been.Figure	3:	Views	on	Keir	Starmer’s	criticism	of	the	governmentIn	terms	of	2019	voters,	the	‘Starmer	dilemma’	is	particularly	obvious.	The	Labour	leader	needs	to	win	back	some	ofthe	votes	of	people	who	opted	for	the	Conservatives	in	2019,	while	holding	on	to	Labour’s	2019	voters.	Yet,perhaps	unsurprisingly,	both	groups	have	very	different	views	on	Starmer’s	approach	to	holding	the	government	toaccount:	53%	of	2019	Conservative	voters	judged	that	Starmer	attacked	the	government	too	much,	while	50%	of2019	Labour	voters	believed	there	had	been	too	little	criticism	of	the	government’s	handling	of	the	crisis.What	do	people	think,	in	principle,	to	the	opposition	being	more	formally	involved	in	decision-making,	compared	to‘normal’?	We	asked	about	this	too,	as	a	way	of	testing	the	common	wisdom	that	in	a	time	of	crisis,	people	want	tosee	politicians	work	together	more.	Only	18%	of	people	tended	to	be	opposed	or	were	strongly	opposed	to	thisidea,	compared	to	43%	tending	to	support	or	strongly	supporting	it.	At	least	in	principle,	more	of	a	role	for	oppositionparties	in	decision-making	during	the	pandemic	is	not	unpopular.Figure	4:	Totals	for	support/opposition	to	more	opposition	involvement	in	decision-makingBritish Politics and Policy at LSE: Public perceptions of Keir Starmer’s performance suggest he has yet to produce a clear narrative of both the COVID-19crisis and his leadershipPage 2 of 3		Date originally posted: 2021-05-14Permalink: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/starmer-dilemma/Blog homepage: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/What	does	all	of	this	mean	for	Starmer’s	strategy	up	to	this	point,	and	in	the	future?	It	is	hard	to	disentanglepeople’s	perceptions	of	Starmer,	of	Labour,	and	of	the	particular	approaches	he	has	pursued	up	to	this	point.	Andthe	very	nature	of	a	dilemma	means	these	are	difficult	choices	for	the	Labour	leader,	where	a	balance	is	hard	toachieve.	Starmer	of	course	needs	to	see	Labour	growing	in	popularity,	and	will	want	to	see	a	negative	impact	onthe	Conservative	party	over	recent	allegations	of	‘sleaze’.	Yet	he	doesn’t	want	to	appear	opportunistic,	pickingfights	with	the	prime	minister	needlessly	–	something	Boris	Johnson	has	tried	to	argue	Starmer	has	been	doing.Earlier	this	year,	in	a	February	speech,	Starmer	sought	to	address	criticisms	of	his	approach,	connecting	what	hesees	as	effects	of	the	pandemic	made	worse	by	the	state	of	the	nation	and	past	Conservative	policies.	Yet	this	kindof	intervention,	and	argument,	has	been	rare.So	far,	the	perceptions	of	the	public	suggest	he	is	yet	to	produce	a	clear	narrative	of	both	the	crisis,	and	hisleadership.	With	the	government	experiencing	an	apparent	boost	in	the	opinions	polls	due	to	the	successful	vaccinerollout,	Starmer	can	make	a	reasonable	case	that	this	period	was	never	likely	to	be	an	electoral	breakthroughmoment	for	Labour.	But	with	the	public	unconvinced	of	his	strategy	so	far,	Starmer	may	need	to	rethink	hisapproach	over	the	next	year._____________________About	the	AuthorsFarah	Hussain	is	a	PhD	candidate	at	Queen	Mary	University	of	London.			Karl	Pike	is	Lecturer	in	British	Politics/Public	Policy	at	Queen	Mary	University	of	London.					British Politics and Policy at LSE: Public perceptions of Keir Starmer’s performance suggest he has yet to produce a clear narrative of both the COVID-19crisis and his leadershipPage 3 of 3		Date originally posted: 2021-05-14Permalink: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/starmer-dilemma/Blog homepage: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/

Public perceptions of Keir Starmer’s performance suggest he has yet to produce a clear narrative of both the COVID-19 crisis and his leadership

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Public perceptions of Keir Starmer’s performance suggest he has yet to produce a clear narrative of both the COVID-19 crisis and his leadership

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