Half of voters think Starmer will be replaced as prime minister by end of 2026, poll suggests

Half of people think Sir Keir Starmer will be replaced as prime minister by the end of 2026, according to an exclusive YouGov poll for Sky News

It comes as unease continues on the Labour benches about the party's position in the polls, with some significant figures rumoured to be plotting a move if May's local elections go badly.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting, Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, former deputy leader Angela Rayner have all been mooted as potential challengers.

Labour Party chair Anna Turley told Sky News at the weekend that Sir Keir would "absolutely" still be prime minister next Christmas - but many voters disagree.

Thirty-one per cent think the prime minister will "probably" be replaced by this time next year, while 19% say he will "definitely" be out of Number 10.

Only 35% of people surveyed believe he has a chance of still being leader.

There was also a harsh assessment of the government's handling of the economy, with 71% telling the YouGov/Sky News poll the economy had got worse over the last 12 months and only 7% saying things had improved.

The 2,041 people - surveyed between 21 and 22 December - also gave a fairly downbeat view of their own finances.

Just 15% think their money situation will improve over the next year, 40% believe it will get worse, while 39% are expecting it to stay about the same.

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However, it appears pessimism has subsided slightly compared with the direct aftermath of November's much-anticipated budget.

A month ago, 56% said they expected their financial situation to get worse and 75% said the government was managing the economy badly.

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Labour remain second in the polls but are up two percentage points on last week and now sit at 20%, a separate YouGov survey of more than 2,200 people suggests.

Reform UK still lead the way when it comes to people's voting intention - but Nigel Farage's party is down from 28% to 25% week on week.

The Tories are narrowly in third on 19% (up from 17%), the Liberal Democrats on 15% (up from 14%) as are the Greens (down from 17% last week).

(c) Sky News 2025: Half of voters think Starmer will be replaced as prime minister by end of 2026, poll suggests