Brits think Keir Starmer is a worse prime minister than any of his last nine successors – aside from Liz Truss, according to new data.

A series of unpopular polices, from cutting winter fuel allowance to increasing national insurance contributions for employers, have seriously hit Starmer’s reputation.

Although he was elected on a landslide just seven months ago, the Labour leader has seen his approval ratings nosedive since he’s taken office.

And pollsters at YouGov dealt him a new blow on Wednesday when they asked Brits to compare Starmer to the previous occupants of No.10, going back to the 1980s. The results were far from flattering.

When compared to Tony Blair, 45% of Brits said the famous “New Labour” prime minister was better than the current prime minister. Just 10% thought the opposite.

The race did narrow slightly when it came to Starmer’s competition against Margaret Thatcher, but the Iron Lady still came out on top with 44% versus Starmer’s 25%.

Gordon Brown also beat Starmer, with 42% thinking the last Labour prime minister was a superior leader. Just 12% thought the current PM was better.

More respondents thought David Cameron was better at the top job too, with 41% backing him compared to 24% for Starmer.

When it came to John Major, the race was slightly narrower – 39% preferred Thatcher’s Tory successor, 16% the current PM.

And it was pretty close with Boris Johnson, who was forced to resign following a mass exodus of his own ministers – he secured 35% to Starmer’s 32%.

But even Rishi Sunak, who led the Conservatives to a historic defeat at the polls last July while Starmer secured a landslide victory, came out on top when respondents were asked who was the better leader between him and his Labour opponent.

A third (33%) said they thought the last Conservative PM was a better figurehead comapred to 30% who preferred Starmer.

It was a similar scenario for Starmer versus Theresa May, too. The ousted Conservative prime minister came out on top with 32% compared to 28% for the current Labour leader.

The only saving grace for the current prime minister was the number of respondents who said they preferred him to Liz Truss, the former Tory PM who was kicked out of office after a record-breaking 45 days in No.10.

Almost half (43%) of Brits said they thought Starmer is a better PM than Truss – although 13% said they thought Truss did a better job.

However, it is worth noting that most Brits said they still favour Starmer to lead the country over his party rivals – Kemi Badenoch, Nigel Farage and Ed Davey.