Down and then out in Paris and London? Why Starmer isn’t the only one with a popularity problem

“People hate you,” the adviser informed his leader. A think-piece in a daily newspaper noted that “almost everyone agrees on one thing: they don’t like him”. The recent disastrous set of local election results in the UK built on Keir Starmer’s longstanding reputational problem: only 11% of Britons believe he has been a good or great prime minister, and nearly 60% believe he has been poor or terrible, according to polling by YouGov. Little wonder that a large number of his colleagues are seeking to drag him out of Downing Street despite being in power for less than two years. But the startlingly frank adviser quoted above was not talking to Starmer but instead to France’s president, Emmanuel Macron. The no-nonsense newspaper article was not about the British prime minister but the German chancellor, Friedrich Merz. Starmer is unpopular. According to Statista, just 27% approve of him, and 65% do not, with 8% said to be unsure. But the numbers are even more dire for both Merz (19% approve, 76% disapprove and 5% did not know) and Macron (18% approve, 75% disapprove, 7% don’t know). Starmer may be facing the final days of his premiership after less than two years, while Macron is about to leave the Élysée Palace after 10 years. Photograph: Tom Nicholson/AFP/ The three largest economies in Europe are being led by leaders who are regarded by their people with something close to contempt, the polling suggests, but then few incumbents on the continent are bucking this trend. …