Disaster for Andy Burnham and Wes Streeting as Kemi Badenoch enjoys huge boost

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch now has the highest favourability rating of any potential Prime Minister as the top Labour contenders struggle in the polls. Nearly three in 10 Britons have a "favourable" view of Mrs Badenoch (28%) - more than for Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham (26%) or former Health Secretary Wes Streeting (15%). The polling suggests the potential successors to Sir Keir Starmer have become less popular as Labour's turmoil has deepened.

Mr Burnham has seen a six point fall in the share of Britons who look at him favourably since May; Mr Streeting has suffered a four point dip over the same period. Election expert and Conservative peer Lord Hayward said Mrs Badenoch had taken advantage of the "mess in the Labour party" to a greater extent than people expected. He said people who did not previously taken an interest in Prime Minister's Questions now looked forward to seeing her showdowns with Sir Keir.

Lord Hayward said: "What it is doing is speeding up the process of Tory party rehabilitation."

The polling comes ahead of Thursday's Makerfield by-election, which will determine whether or not Mr Burnham can return to Parliament and challenge Sir Keir for the Labour leadership.

When asked whether Mr Burnham or Sir Keir would make the best prime minister, one in four voters opted for the mayor with just 12% choosing the present Labour leader. However, half of Britons said they wanted neither or said there would be no difference between the two.

On the crucial issue for Labour of whether Mr Burnham would help the party stop Reform UK's Nigel Farage becoming prime minister, the polling suggests getting rid of Sir Keir would make negligible difference.

When Britons were offered a straight choice between a Burnham-led Government and a Reform administration, 44% said they would vote Labour with 31% option for Mr Farage's party. There was little change if Sir Keir remained in post, with 41% opting for Labour and 32% backing Reform.

In a further boost for the Conservatives, Mrs Badenoch was ahead of Mr Farage (26%) in the favourability stakes, and also above the Liberal Democrats' Sir Ed Davey (22%) and the Greens' Zack Polanski (20%).

More people had a favourable view of the Tory leader than a host of senior Labour figures including Sir Tony Blair (20%), Energy Secretary Ed Miliband (19%) and former Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner (18%).

Restore Britain leader and US President Donald Trump had identical favourability ratings on 16%.

When people were asked what issues will be very important to them at the next election, healthcare topped the list (58%), ahead of inflation and the cost of living (55%) and immigration (50%).

The polling also shines a light on how Britons think about Brexit as the 10th anniversary of the referendum nears. Fewer than one in five (19%) think it has had a positive impact while 55% say leaving the EU has been negative for the country.

There is deep pessimism about the state of the nation under Labour. Nearly two-thirds (64%) say it is going in the wrong direction, while just 13% think it is on track to a better future.

The latest YouGov polling shows 24% of people would vote Reform UK if there was an election tomorrow - more than for Labour or the Conservatives (both 19%), the Greens (15%), the Lib Dems (13%) or Restore Britain (4%).

Gideon Skinner of Ipsos said Mr Burnham "still needs to demonstrate he can persuade those currently sitting on the fence about him that he would offer a better alternative".