More than six in 10 Brits have admitted to now disliking Keir Starmer, a shocking new survey has revealed.
The Labour Party leader won the General Election in a landslide victory back in July, finally bringing 14 years of Conservative rule to an end, before formally taking over the role of Prime Minister from Rishi Sunak, but since then, it hasn’t exactly been smooth sailing for Keir Starmer during his time in office, especially after a recent few weeks dominated by a donations scandal and rows over the winter fuel payments for pensioners.
Now, a new survey carried out by YouGov has revealed that Starmer’s favourability rating has plummeted to the lowest level since he took over as Labour leader back in 2020.
The Prime Minister now has a net score of -36, according to YouGov.
This means that, currently, only 27% of Brits have a positive opinion of the Prime Minister, which is the the lowest since September 2021, while 63% have a negative opinion of him, making it the highest score to date.
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What makes these results from this survey – which was conducted at the start of this month (October) – even more damning for Starmer is probably the fact that almost as many people now have an unfavourable view of his as they did Jeremy Corbyn at the end of his time as Labour leader, which was 65%.
A new survey has found that Keir Starmer is now as ‘unpopular’ among Brits as Nigel Farage / Credit: Lauren Hurley / No 10 Downing Street (via Flickr)
But just when you think it couldn’t get any worse for him, the survey reveals that Starmer is now as unpopular as Nigel Farage – 28% of Brits have a positive view, and 63% a negative one.
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While more people did answer that they have a “very unfavourable” view of the Reform UK leader (49%, to Starmer’s 41%), a surprisingly larger number of Brits also have a “very favourable” opinion of Farage (10% vs 4%).
Thankfully though, if Starmer is to cling onto anything, the survey did find that the Prime Minister is, for the time being at least, still less unpopular than Rishi Sunak – with 66% holding a negative view, and 24% a positive one.
Featured Image – Kirsty O’Connor / No 10 Downing Street (via Flickr)
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Rules around booking driving tests in UK change from today to make system ‘fairer’
Emily Sergeant
The rules around booking driving tests in the UK are officially set to change from today in a bid to make the system ‘fairer’.
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has now introduced new rules for car driving test bookings, putting learners ‘firmly in control’ of their own booking, as it is now against the law for third parties – including unofficial test booking and cancellation finder services, as well as driving instructors – to make bookings for someone else.
It will also be a breach of DVSA’s terms and conditions for the booking service for third parties to change, swap, or cancel a driving test for someone else.
Learners should only ever pay the official DVSA fee – which is £62 on weekdays and £75 on evenings, weekends and bank holidays.
The Government says the new rules aim to make booking driving tests ‘fairer’ for learner drivers.
While driving instructors will no longer be able to book tests on behalf of of learners, they will still be able to advise learners on when they are ready to take a test, as well as set their available times to prevent learners from booking tests at times that do not work for them.
Following on from changes to test alterations which were introduced at the end of March, from 9 June 2026, further restrictions will come into force limiting learners to moving their test only to one of the three nearest driving test centres.
The DVSA has also pledged to continue increasing driving examiner capacity to help provide more tests for learners to book.
“Our priority is to stop learners being exploited by third parties, put them in control of their driving test, and make the process fairer by clamping down on businesses that resell tests at inflated prices,” commented Beverley Warmington, who is the DVSA Chief Executive.
“These new measures help bring a halt to a system where the use of bots and third parties increases the amount some learners pay for a test and blocks test availability for many others.
“These measures will help free up appointments for genuine learners who are ready to take their test.”
Featured Image – Pxfuel
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Canal Street cordoned off after ‘suspicious chemicals’ reported at hotel
Daisy Jackson
Canal Street and several other streets in the Gay Village in Manchester have been cordoned off this afternoon.
Greater Manchester Police are attending reported of a smell that’s believed to be chemicals coming from a hotel room in the area.
There’s a huge emergency services presence in the area, including vehicles from Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue, and the North West Ambulance Service.
Police have confirmed that they have detained a man who is believed to have been the occupant of the hotel room.
The hotel itself has been evacuated while the material is examined.
Thankfully, no one has been injured in the incident that has shut down part of Canal Street today.
Emergency services vehicles at the scene on Canal StreetThe cordon in place on Canal Street
GMP said in a statement: “We are currently searching a hotel room at a premises on Canal Street, Manchester. This follows a report of a smell – currently believed to be chemicals – causing suspicion.
“A man, believed to be the occupant of the room, has been detained and is currently in custody.
“As a precautionary measure, the hotel has been evacuated while specialist resources examine the material and conduct further enquiries.
“No-one has been injured and we are working to establish the full circumstances. We thank people for their patience as we continue with our work.”
Emily Sergeant -
16th October 2024 
