Nigel Farage has been voted the most popular politician in the country in a fresh poll which has delivered a damning assessment of Sir Keir Starmer's Britain.
The polling, exclusively shared with GB News by Friderichs Advisory and JL Partners, has handed the Reform UK leader a flattering approval rating - with 32 per cent of Britons viewing him positively.
Pollsters also quizzed respondents on grooming gangs, Tommy Robinson and Elon Musk - who have all made headlines since the turn of the New Year.
Elon Musk is the most disliked major figure for Britons, with 52 per cent of those surveyed holding a negative view of the tech tycoon - more than Starmer at 49 per cent.
Tommy Robinson has the lowest 'positivity rating' of any major figure at -33. Only 14 per cent of Britons have a positive view of him, with 47 per cent feeling negatively about the EDL co-founder.
In a sign Farage may have played his cards right when he clashed with Musk over Robinson, the new poll has revealed that Reform UK voters vastly prefer their leader to either of the pair - Musk enjoys a +13 rating, while Robinson sits at -5.
And in a scathing indictment of the state of the UK, Britons surveyed said they were nervous, upset, afraid, distressed, scared and ashamed overall.
Only 12 per cent said they felt either extremely or quite a bit proud or enthusiastic about the current state of the country, the poll revealed.
FOLLOW BELOW FOR MORE LIVE UPDATES THROUGHOUT THE DAY...
PICTURED: Amesbury arrives to give guilty plea - court hears how he punched victim 'at least five times' while downed on street
Mike Amesbury MP pleads guilty to assault after punching man in early-morning street row
Labour's suspended MP Mike Amesbury has pleaded guilty to assault by beating
PA/PARLIAMENT
Labour's suspended MP Mike Amesbury has pleaded guilty to assault by beating in court today after punching a man in a late-night bust-up in Cheshire.
The Runcorn & Helsby MP had the Labour whip removed in late October after multiple videos of the assault emerged on social media.
Yvette Cooper to give grooming gangs update after Labour MPs break rank to demand national inquiry
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper will be giving a statement to Parliament on grooming gangs today, the House of Commons has confirmed.
With Labour under increasing pressure to launch a national Public Inquiry into the rape gangs scandal, Cooper will be addressing MPs on "child sexual exploitation and abuse" at 2pm on Thursday.
It comes just days after Labour's own Rotherham and Rochdale MPs - Sarah Champion and Paul Waugh, respectively - broke ranks with the party's top brass to demand a national probe.
Labour's suspended MP Mike Amesbury set for court date today after being charged with assault
Mike Amesbury is set to appear at Chester Magistrates' Court today
PARLIAMENT
Suspended Labour MP Mike Amesbury is set to appear in court today charged with assault after allegedly attacking a man in a late-night bust-up in Cheshire.
Amesbury, the MP for Runcorn & Helsby, had the Labour whip removed in late October after multiple videos of the alleged assault emerged on social media - just a day after the incident took place in the early hours of October 26 on Main Street in Frodsham, Cheshire.
The 55-year-old has been summonsed to court to face a section 39 assault charge after a file was passed to prosecutors on October 29.
He has previously said he is "continuing to co-operate" with police following the "deeply regrettable" incident.
Amesbury is set to appear at Chester Magistrates' Court today.
Reeves meeting regulators for growth ideas is like 'asking the village speed watch group to organise the next British Grand Prix', Griffith jabs
Rachel Reeves's meeting with regulators to discuss growth ideas is like "asking the village speed watch group to organise the next British Grand Prix", Shadow Business Secretary Andrew Griffith has said.
Describing regulators as a "weight in our nation's backpack", Griffith warned that meeting watchdogs to stimulate the economy "smacks of desperation".
He said: "Whilst regulators can sometimes play a useful role, they generally depress growth through risk aversion, bureaucracy and simply slowing down decision-making.
"In the global economic race, our well-compensated and well-pensioned corps of regulators are a weight in our nation's backpack making it hard to compete.
"In fact, the best thing the Chancellor could do with the quangos today to help the economy grow is to launch a metaphorical 'Squid Game' to significantly slim down their ranks."
Reeves under fire for 'subdued' GDP figures as UK economy only grows by 0.1%: 'Concerning!'
The British economy grew by 0.1 per cent in November, the first expansion in three months after two consecutive months of declining output in September and October.
It's a minor reprieve for Labour's growth pledge, but the figure still falls below expectations - economists had forecasted a growth rate of 0.2 per cent for the 12 months to November.
Reacting to the news, Rachel Reeves said: "I am determined to go further and faster to kickstart economic growth, which is the number one priority in our Plan for Change.
"That means generating investment, driving reform and a relentless commitment to root out waste in public spending, and today I will be pressing regulators on what more they can do to deliver growth."
But analysts aren't convinced. Hailey Low, an associate economist at the National Institute of Economics and Social Research, warned that the "subdued" growth figures "elevate concerns over the UK's economic outlook moving into 2025".
Starmer swipes at Putin as PM signs '100 Year Partnership' with Ukraine in Kyiv
PICTURED: Sir Keir Starmer is briefed by his military assistant on a train to Kyiv
PA
Sir Keir Starmer is in Ukraine today for the signing of a "100-Year Partnership" with the embattled country.
The PM arrived by train in the capital Kyiv - where he's set to announce the new long-term partnership with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky.
The deal is set to boost military collaboration on maritime security and will bring together experts in areas including drone technology - a key feature of the gruelling war, which has nearly crossed the three-year mark.
In a swipe at Russia, Starmer said: "Putin's ambition to wrench Ukraine away from its closest partners has been a monumental strategic failure.
"Instead, we are closer than ever and this partnership will take that friendship to the next level.
"This is not just about the here and now, it is also about an investment in our two countries for the next century, bringing together technology development, scientific advances and cultural exchanges and harnessing the phenomenal innovation shown by Ukraine in recent years for generations to come."
Politics LIVE
Welcome back to GB News' Politics LIVE blog.
We'll be updating this page throughout the day with live politics updates as they come in.
You may like
