LABOUR has fallen behind the Tories in opinion polls for the first time since the 2024 general election, a development that overshadows Keir Starmer’s latest attempted relaunch of his government.

Both the traditional governing parties continue to trail the hard-right Reform UK, however.

A YouGov poll put Reform on 26 per cent, the Tories on 19, Labour down three on 17, with the Liberal Democrats on 16, the Greens on 15 and the SNP and Plaid Cymru on a combined 5 per cent.

In further bad news for the Prime Minister, YouGov have also found that he is far more unpopular with the public than kidnapped Venezuelan leader Nicholas Maduro and almost as unpopular as Hamas.

Starmer’s net favourability rating is minus 56, the same as President Donald Trump, while Hamas are on minus 58 and Maduro merely minus 31.

Nothing daunted, Sir Keir told the cabinet today that “renewal is becoming reality and …Britain is turning the corner.”

Rejecting “the politics of easy answers and gimmicks” Sir Keir said the government would be judged at the next election on the state of the NHS and whether people feel better off.

Hedging her bets though, his party deputy leader Lucy Powell told Labour MPs that the party would prioritise saving its existing MPs rather than winning new seats at the next election.

She also pledged her backing for the beleaguered premier, saying “dark forces” were trying to make him fail.

“We all need this government, led by Keir, to succeed, to show that progressive mainstream politics works. Our fortunes hang or fall together,” she said, warning that only Reform could gain from Labour splits.