The latest YouGov poll finds Kemi Badenoch’s personal ratings have risen sharply while support for the Conservative Party remains weak. 38% now say she is doing well as leader (up from 14% in October) and 27% see her as a prime minister‑in‑waiting (up from 8%). Yet only 20% intend to vote Conservative at the next general election. The poll also highlights a strong "Kemi Bonus" among Reform UK voters and shows Labour leading the parties in popularity.
Keminaissance: Kemi Badenoch’s Popularity Climbs While Conservative Support Lags, YouGov Finds
Kemi Badenoch’s popularity is rising – but voters still unconvinced by Tory party, new poll shows
A new YouGov poll finds Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has enjoyed a steady rise in personal popularity even as public sentiment toward the Conservative Party remains weak.
Poll Highlights
YouGov has dubbed the trend a "Keminaissance": 38% of Britons now say Badenoch is doing well as party leader, up from 14% in October. Meanwhile, 27% view her as a prime minister‑in‑waiting, compared with 8% in October. Despite those gains, only 20% of respondents say they intend to vote Conservative at the next general election — a rise of just three percentage points since October.
"At the core of this is the fact that opinion towards the Conservatives remains poor, even if there have been some improvements since last autumn," YouGov researcher Dylan Difford said.
Difford added that a belief the Conservatives "have not learned their lessons from the last election" is a major reservation about voting for the party for 28% of those who have remained loyal to the Conservatives, and for 36% of those who have switched to another party or are now undecided.
The poll also identified a pronounced "Kemi Bonus" among Reform UK supporters: Reform voters are roughly 20 percentage points more likely than average to say Badenoch looks like a prime minister‑in‑waiting, whereas the average uplift among other groups is around 5–7 points.
Badenoch's boosted ratings now make her the UK's second most popular political leader (PA)
Perceptions of Badenoch are mixed. More than 40% of Britons describe her as decisive, strong or competent, while 37% consider her untrustworthy, according to the survey.
Across recent polling averages, Badenoch now records a one‑point net approval rating, placing her as the UK's second most popular political leader — the first time that average has risen above zero. That rise has seen her overtake the Liberal Democrats' Sir Ed Davey and the Green Party's Zack Polanski, who each led popularity ratings at points over the winter.
The top spot in the popularity rankings is held by Andy Burnham at a net +14, following a sustained boost in support after his recent appointment to a high-profile role. By contrast, Reform leader Nigel Farage has fallen to a net -26 amid his party's focus on the Clacton-on-Sea by-election.
The poll also shows Labour as the most popular party for the first time in more than a year, on +24 points compared with Reform on +22 and the Conservatives on +21.
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