Damning Ipsos polling shows buyer’s regret among voters over Labour amid worsening economic confidence… but there was better news for the Royal Family
Keir Starmer has a record low approval rating, according to Ipsos polling (Image: Getty)
It was a year when Britain took stock. But as 2025 ends after nearly 18 months of a Labour government, honeymoon optimism evolved into a more searching, sometimes sceptical national mood with definite hints of buyer’s regret. One of the most striking findings from the last 12 months came from our Economic Optimism Index, which fell to its lowest level since records began in 1978, with a net score of -68 in April.
Three in four Britons expected the economy to worsen over the next 12 months, and just 7% believed it would improve – a bleak outlook not seen in past recessions, financial crises or even the pandemic. This is bad news for Rachel Reeves and Keir Starmer – both of whom sit on record low approval ratings – because the cost of living continued to figure prominently in our trend tracker of what issues matter most to voters alongside immigration and the NHS.
Despite increased global threats, defence and security were not top of mind, rarely breaking into the top ten issues. Nearly half of adults (48%) said there were no circumstances in which they would be willing to take up arms for Britain. Just 35% said there were situations where they would.
Our voting intention polling made grim reading for Labour, while Reform UK reached record highs, at one point enjoying around 34% support. Both Labour and the Conservatives registered unusually low shares – 18% and 16% in our most recent polling – a reminder of widespread dissatisfaction with mainstream parties and politics.
This time it’s personal. Just 13% are satisfied with Keir Starmer as a leader, giving him a net satisfaction rating of -64, the lowest of any party leader and a 20 point drop since the start of 2025. The odds of a Labour leadership challenge in 2026 are shortening. Head-to-head against potential successors, only Andy Burnham had the jump on Starmer with a 13-point lead. Wes Streeting and Ed Miliband trail him by 6 points and 8 points respectively.
The monarchy had another year in the headlines, both good and bad. Ipsos polling shows that around half of Britons continue to have a favourable view of the Royal Family, and over half think King Charles III is doing a good job as monarch.
However, the public view of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was scathing. Only around 9% had a favourable opinion of him in our most recent polling, and 90% felt it was the right decision to strip him of his titles. Attitudes towards the monarchy itself remain more positive. A majority think Britain will still have a monarchy in 50 years’ time, and approval ratings for Charles, William and Kate have maintained in the high 60s and early 70s throughout the year.
One of the more unexpected national conversations of 2025 was about masculinity. The reaction to Adolescence, followed by Sir Gareth Southgate’s BBC Dimbleby Lecture, tapped into wider unease about what it means to grow up male in modern Britain. Ipsos’s Modern Masculinity research shows a far more nuanced picture than many headlines suggest.
The Royal Family continues to hold public support despite a year of controversy over Andrew (Image: PA)
While 77% of Britons disagree that a man who stays at home to care for children is “less of a man”, 51% of men aged 16-24 say efforts to promote gender equality have gone so far that they now discriminate against men. Young men may reject dated perceptions of toughness, yet they also struggle with unclear role models and social pressures amid rapid cultural change.
And yet, beneath the forecasts of unrest and recession, Ipsos data suggests something more resilient at work. While three-quarters of Britons think 2025 was a bad year for the country, less than half say it was a bad year for themselves or their family, a gap that has quietly widened in recent years.
More strikingly, 58% believe 2026 will be a better year for them personally, and a growing share, 32% (up nine points on last year), think optimism itself is set to return. Even at moments of profound national pessimism, Britons continue to separate their private hopes from their public anxieties. It is a reminder that while confidence in institutions may be fragile, confidence in our own capabilities endures.
