Most British voters would prefer former prime minister Tony Blair as the country’s leader over the current prime minister, Keir Starmer, or two of Starmer’s primary rivals, Wes Streeting and Andy Burnham.

This is according to a survey conducted by a market research company, Opinium, in early June.

Blair and Starmer are the only two people to have led the Labour Party to electoral victories in the United Kingdom (UK) in the 21st century. Streeting and Burnham are both long-serving Labour politicians who are seen as possible successors to Starmer, who is becoming increasingly unpopular among both Labour party members and the British public.

Respondents were asked the following: “Imagine a hypothetical situation where Tony Blair returned as prime minister today. Compared with each of the following, do you think Tony Blair would do a better or worse job as prime minister?”

Respondents were given the option of Starmer, Streeting, and Burnham.

Thirty-nine percent of respondents said Blair would do a much better job than Starmer, while 16% said he would do a much worse job. The remainder were unsure or undecided.

The proportion of those who said Blair would do a much better job than Streeting was 23%, with 20% saying Blair would do a much worse job. Twenty-seven percent said Blair would do a better job than Burnham and 15% said he would do a worse job.

The poll also found that Reform UK was leading in the firm’s opinion polling, which was conducted at the same time.

It found that 29% of respondents supported Nigel Farage’s outfit Reform UK, with Labour second on 20%. The Conservatives, Labour’s traditional rival, was on 17%, while the Green Party was on 14% and the Liberal Democrats on 11%.

Reform UK has been leading Opinium’s polling for over a year now, although the next British election could still be some way off, and may only be held in 2029.