January 16, 2023 9:00am by David Farrar

Perceptions of UK Leaders

Where on the left-right spectrum do voters think [X] sits:

-100: very left wing
0: centrist
+100: very right wing

2006
Tony Blair: +5
David Cameron: +34
Themselves: +0

2022
Keir Starmer: -29
Rishi Sunak: +49
Themselves: -7https://t.co/ASnrv0Z5JA pic.twitter.com/1cS2vL1blf
— Britain Elects (@BritainElects) January 14, 2023

This data is very interesting to me.

First of all it shows the average UK voter has become slightly more left leaning since 2006.

Tony Blair was seen as very centrist (and the only UK Leader to win an election since 1974).

David Cameron won in 2010. Both he and Gordon Brown were seen as fairly moderate, and Cameron partially won on time for a change in 2010

Miliband was seen as more left than Brown and they lost in 2015.

Corbyn was seen as so far left that Boris Johnson won easily in 2019 despite Johnson also being seen as not moderate.

Rishi Sunak is seen as around where David Cameron is, but Keir Starmer is seen as more centrist and closer to the median voter. I expect him in 2024 to become the first UK Labour leader since Blair to win.