Half of voters want Keir Starmer replaced as PM, new poll shows

It's the PM's worst ever ratings

Fifty-one per cent of voters said that Labour should change who is PM, according to BMG Research for The i Paper.

It comes after the party blocked Andy Burnham from standing for election in the Gorton and Denton seat, after Andrew Gwynne stepped down.

Burnham announced his request to Labour’s National Executive Committee (NEC) to run in the by-election earlier this month, saying he had “come to the conclusion that this is the moment to mount the strongest possible defence of what we stand for”.

However, the ‘King of the North’ received the damning news that the NEC had rejected his request to run in the by-election, claiming he even found out after the media did.

The NEC is chaired by Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood and of course includes Keir Starmer.

This decision provoked backlash from MPs in support of Mr Burnham, and will contradict other Labour ministers who wanted local members to be allowed to decide the result.

New polling also found Starmer to have a record net negative satisfaction score of -49.

Only one in five (21 per cent) of voters believe Starmer should stay as PM, while Burnham was the clear favourite to replace him, with 24 per cent of those who want a change in leader backing him.