A new poll rated Keir Starmer’s responses to key issues – and more voters said staying out of the Iran War, cooling his bromance with Donald Trump and moving closer to the EU were the right calls
More voters think Keir Starmer made the right calls in responding to Donald Trump’s war in Iran, a new poll has found.
Voters were asked to rate Starmer on key issues facing Britain today.
In a glimmer of hope for Downing Street amid gloomy popularity ratings for the PM, his most recent efforts internationally have proven more popular with voters.
Meanwhile more voters said Nigel Farage would have taken a worse approach to the Iran conflict than any other party leader.
It comes alongside a new report by the Good Growth Foundation, who conducted the poll, which recommends using defence spending to bridge the gap between Starmer’s popularity on international issues and his struggles domestically.
The report recommends launching a paid “defence foundation year” for 18-24 year olds as a route into skilled employment and new rules ensuring British firms get first dibs on defence contracts
Of the seven issues polled by the Good Growth Foundation, Starmer’s decision to stay out of the Iran conflict, his cooler relations with President Trump and his move towards closer ties with the EU were the most popular.
And 43% of those polled – the largest group – said he had made the right decisions in responding to the conflict.
Some 38% said he had prioritised British values over the US relationship or had struck the right balance between the two.
But while the polling suggested voters saw Starmer taking the right track on international issues in recent months, he still faces an uphill climb to convince Brits he’s making the right calls on domestic issues.
Voters were least likely to back the PM’s success on tackling the cost of living crisis, immigration issues and the UK economy, with the NHS coming in fourth place on the table.
Asked whether the other party leaders would do better or worse than Starmer on handling the Iran war, some 42% of those polled said Nigel Farage would have been worse, with 31% saying he would have done “much worse” and only 23% saying he would have done better.
Nearly a third of voters said Tory leader Kemi Badenoch would have been worse, with just 22% saying she would have done better.
A third said Lib Dem Ed Davey would have done about the same, with 23% saying he would have done worse.
Some 32% said Green leader Zack Polanski would have done worse, though another 30% said they didn’t know. Just 12% said he would have done better.
“Voters clearly rate the Prime Minister’s performance on the world stage,” Louisa Dollimore, Director of Strategy at The Good Growth Foundation, said.
“It’s now a question about how that foreign-policy strength can be used to effect change here at home. Defence policy offers the perfect opportunity to do that.
“Straddling domestic and foreign policy, it can create clear routes into skilled work for young people, support British business and protect us from the cyberattacks that are already part of modern conflict.”
As well as Defence apprenticeships for young people and a level playing field for British firms in defence contracts and supply chains, the Good Growth Foundation said some of the Defence budget should be used to protect the NHS and local employers from ransomware attacks, many of which are state-sponsored.
Ms Dollimore added: “It is a false choice to say we must choose between defending Britain abroad and fixing things at home.
“Defence spending can and should do both. A more resilient Britain is how you secure the public consent needed for traditional defence spending, and it is how you anchor the country in an increasingly volatile world.”
GGF Insights conducted a poll of 2,006 British adults online between the 27th March and 3rd of April 2026. Figures were weighted to be both nationally and politically representative of all Britons, based on age, gender, education level, region, vote in 2019, vote in 2024, and political attention.
Keir Starmer’s challenge is turning his success abroad into something people feel at home
By Louisa Dollimore, Director of Strategy at The Good Growth Foundation
When you ask the public where Keir Starmer has represented Britain’s interests best, three answers come back: his handling of the conflict between the United States and Iran; managing the UK’s relationship with Donald Trump; and rebuilding ties with Europe. It’s striking that all three are squarely in the realm of foreign policy. The challenge now is whether this success abroad can be turned into something people actually feel at home.
Defence is a good place to start, sitting at the junction of foreign and domestic policy. Yes, defence is about bullets and tanks, but it is also about the country’s resilience. Is our economy sturdy enough to withstand external shocks? Do we have the skills and support for British businesses so they can get a piece of the pie when valuable contracts are handed out? Are we protecting the public against the cyberattacks hitting them everyday? Strong defence, that meets the public where they are, linking security with prosperity, can provide the story to straddle the foreign and the domestic.
There are practical ways to do this. One is to turn defence into a visible route into decent, well-paid work, with a paid foundation year for 18-24‑year‑olds. We need to target those not in education, work or training with a laser focus on skills in cyber, engineering and logistics that are useful across the economy. Funding local cyber resilience centres and a single national cybercrime and fraud hotline would give people somewhere to turn when they are hit. Shifting more defence spending towards British small and medium‑sized firms, and requiring big foreign contracts to reinvest more value in the UK, would help ensure the money spent on security also supports domestic jobs and supply chains.
None of this means pretending defence can fix every problem. But it does mean rejecting the old idea that we must choose between defending Britain abroad and fixing things at home. By anchoring Britain in a chaotic world, defence policy has the power to show that pounds spent on security also strengthens the workforce, businesses and services people rely on day to day. That is how you turn foreign‑policy credit into lasting confidence at home.
