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Down and then out in Paris and London? Why Starmer isn’t the only one with a popularity problem

The Guardian · 🇬🇧 public United Kingdom · · 1234 words · By Daniel Boffey
Leadership Competence Economic Decline of Europe European Political Crisis
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What to know about Leadership Competence

“People hate you,” the adviser informed his leader.

Claims checked 18
Techniques found 3
Topics 3

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Right coverage
Left17%
Center83%
Right0%

6 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

“People hate you,” the adviser informed his leader.

Why it matters

A think-piece in a daily newspaper noted that “almost everyone agrees on one thing: they don’t like him”.

Common ground

The recent disastrous set of local election results in the UK built on Keir Starmer’s longstanding reputational problem: only 11% of Britons believe he has been a good or great prime minister, and nearly 60% believe he has been poor or terrible, according to…

Perspective signals

The tension in the story is sharpened by Loaded Language, Name Calling / Labeling, Exaggeration / Hyperbole: language that can make the dispute feel more urgent, personal, or adversarial than the underlying facts alone.

open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.theguardian.com/world/ng-interactive/2026/may/16/down-and-then-out-i…

psychologyPropaganda Techniques Detected

eFinder identified 3 propaganda techniques in this article. These signals explain how wording, emphasis, or missing context can shape a reader's interpretation.

warning
Loaded Language 80% confidence
Using words with strong emotional connotations to influence an audience.
Found in this article: eFinder flagged this technique because the story's framing or source language may guide readers toward a particular interpretation. Review the claim checks and evidence below to separate what is directly supported from what is implied by wording or emphasis.
Why it matters: Recognizing loaded language helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.
warning
Name Calling / Labeling 60% confidence
Attaching a negative label to a person or group to reject them without evidence.
Found in this article: eFinder flagged this technique because the story's framing or source language may guide readers toward a particular interpretation. Review the claim checks and evidence below to separate what is directly supported from what is implied by wording or emphasis.
Why it matters: Recognizing name calling / labeling helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.
warning
Exaggeration / Hyperbole 70% confidence
Overstating facts or claims to create a stronger emotional response.
Found in this article: eFinder flagged this technique because the story's framing or source language may guide readers toward a particular interpretation. Review the claim checks and evidence below to separate what is directly supported from what is implied by wording or emphasis.
Why it matters: Recognizing exaggeration / hyperbole helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 18 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

schedule Pending 8
check_circle Corroborated 4
verified Verified By Reference 3
info Single Source 2
help Insufficient Evidence 1
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Claim 1: “Mette Frederiksen is still in with a shout of staying on as the prime minister of Denmark”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
verified
Claim 2: “Bart de Wever, the prime minister of Belgium”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
Wikipedia and the official Belgium.be website confirm Bart De Wever has served as the Prime Minister of Belgium since February 2025.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Bart De Wever (b. 1970) has been Prime Minister of Belgium since 3 February 2025. He is the first Flemish nationalist to hold this position. He previously served as Mayor of Antwerp from January 2013 …
https://premier.be/en/biography
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Mr. Bart De Wever, Prime Minister. David Clarinval.Mr. Frank Vandenbroucke, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Social Affairs and Public Health, in charge of combating Poverty.
https://www.belgium.be/en/about_belgium/government/federal_a…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Bart Albert Liliane De Wever. (Dutch: [ˈbɑrt də ˈʋeːvər]; born 21 December 1970) is a Belgian politician who has served as the Prime Minister of Belgium since February 2025.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bart_De_Wever
+ 1 more evidence source
schedule
Claim 3: “The personal ratings for Margaret Thatcher... 33.5% were satisfied with Thatcher in May 1981 and 60.5% were dissatisfied.”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
schedule
Claim 4: “Since 2022, his capacity to make things happen has been hamstrung by his lack of a majority in the national assembly.”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
verified
Claim 5: “Jonas Gahr Støre, whose Labour party in Norway”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
Wikipedia and other biographical sources confirm Jonas Gahr Støre is the Prime Minister of Norway and the leader of the Labour Party.
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — Jonas Gahr Støre (Norwegian: [ˈjùːnɑs gɑː‿ˈʂtø̂ːrə]; born 25 August 1960) is a Norwegian politician who has served as the prime minister of Norway since 2021. He has been leader of the Labour Party si…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonas_Gahr_Støre
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Labour Party (Bokmål: Arbeiderpartiet; Nynorsk: Arbeidarpartiet, A or Ap; Northern Sami: Bargiidbellodat), formerly The Norwegian Labour Party (Norwegian: Det norske Arbeiderparti, DNA), is a soci…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labour_Party_(Norway)
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Støre Cabinet is the incumbent government of the Kingdom of Norway, headed by Labour Party leader Jonas Gahr Støre as Prime Minister. The government was appointed by King Harald V on 14 October 20…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Støre_cabinet
+ 3 more evidence sources
check_circle
Claim 6: “Peter Matuschek, the head of the polling thinktank Forsa”
CORROBORATED
The Guardian, AGI, and a YouTube transcript all identify Peter Matuschek as the head/director of research at the Forsa polling institute.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — In Berlin, where Peter Matuschek, the head of the polling thinktank Forsa, follows the fortunes of the German chancellor, it can sometimes feel that Europe has fallen foul of a spectacularly poor gene…
https://www.theguardian.com/world/ng-interactive/2026/may/16…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Peter Matuschek is Director of Research Forsa Institute in Berlin. Since 2007, he has been responsible for FORSA research projects on elections and public opinion on all levels of the political system…
https://americangerman.institute/events/2025/02/polling-and-…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — "I think they voted for the CDU because of Merkel's popularity to a large degree," Peter Matuschek, head of political research at Forsa Polling Institute, said.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvCep7G6Dj0
check_circle
Claim 7: “the numbers are even more dire for both Merz (19% approve, 76% disapprove and 5% did not know) and Macron (18% approve, 75% disapprove, 7% don’t know).”
CORROBORATED
The approval ratings for Merz (19%) and Macron (18%) are reported in both The Guardian and Euronews (which cites Morning Consult), providing independent corroboration of the low approval trend and specific figures for Merz.
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — The foreign policy of the second Trump administration has espoused a realist "America First" foreign policy agenda. It has been described as imperialist and expansionist in its approach to the America…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_policy_of_the_second_T…
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Group of Seven (G7) is an intergovernmental political and economic forum consisting of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States; additionally, the European U…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G7
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — According to Statista, just 27% approve of him, and 65% do not, with 8% said to be unsure. But the numbers are even more dire for both Merz (19% approve, 76% disapprove and 5% did not know) and Macron…
https://www.theguardian.com/world/ng-interactive/2026/may/16…
+ 2 more evidence sources
info
Claim 8: “only 11% of Britons believe he has been a good or great prime minister, and nearly 60% believe he has been poor or terrible, according to polling by YouGov”
SINGLE SOURCE
The specific polling numbers (11% good/great, 60% poor/terrible) are not found in the provided Wikipedia or general web search results, though YouGov is confirmed as a polling firm. No independent corroboration of these specific figures was found in the evidence.
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — At various dates in the run up to the next United Kingdom general election various organisations have carried out opinion polling to gauge the opinions that voters hold towards political leaders. Most…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leadership_approval_opinion_po…
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — The political positions of Keir Starmer, the prime minister of the United Kingdom since 2024 and Leader of the Labour Party since 2020, have frequently changed. Views of his political philosophy are d…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_positions_of_Keir_St…
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — The premiership of Keir Starmer as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom began on 5 July 2024 when he accepted an invitation from King Charles III to form a government, succeeding Rishi Sunak of the Co…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Premiership_of_Keir_Starmer
+ 3 more evidence sources
verified
Claim 9: “The Austrian chancellor, Christian Stocker”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
Wikipedia and the official Federal Chancellery of Austria confirm that Christian Stocker was sworn in as Federal Chancellor on March 3, 2025.
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — The chancellor of Austria, officially the federal chancellor of the Republic of Austria (German: Bundeskanzler der Republik Österreich), is the head of government of the Republic of Austria. Twenty-ni…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chancellor_of_Austria
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Christian Stocker ([ˈkʁɪsti̯an ˈʃtɔkɐ]; born 20 March 1960) is an Austrian politician who has served as chancellor of Austria since March 2025. A member of the People's Party (ÖVP), he has been a memb…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Stocker
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Stocker government (German: Bundesregierung Stocker) was sworn in as the Government of Austria on 3 March 2025. It is headed by Chancellor Christian Stocker. It is the first tripartite coalition g…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stocker_government
+ 3 more evidence sources
info
Claim 10: “According to Statista, just 27% approve of him, and 65% do not, with 8% said to be unsure.”
SINGLE SOURCE
The specific Statista numbers (27% approve, 65% disapprove) appear only in one Guardian article snippet and are not corroborated by other independent sources in the provided evidence.
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — The inaugural election for the National Assembly for Wales was held on Thursday 6 May 1999 to elect 60 members to the National Assembly for Wales (Welsh: Cynulliad Cenedlaethol Cymru). It was the firs…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1999_National_Assembly_for_Wal…
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — A general election was held in the United Kingdom on 12 December 2019, with 47,074,800 registered voters entitled to vote to elect 650 Members of Parliament (MPs) to the House of Commons. The governin…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_United_Kingdom_general_el…
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — The University of Leeds is a public research university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was established in 1874 as the Yorkshire College of Science. In 1884, it merged with the Leeds School of M…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Leeds
+ 3 more evidence sources
help
Claim 11: “Macron, who is coming to the end of his 10 years in power.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was provided or found in the search results regarding the specific duration of Emmanuel Macron's time in power relative to a '10 year' mark.
schedule
Claim 12: “The US economy is expected to expand by 2.4% this year. Compare that to France (0.9%), the UK (0.9%) and Germany (0.6%).”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
schedule
Claim 13: “The Wall Street Journal recently reported that executive assistants in New York City earn around the same as specialist doctors in London.”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
schedule
Claim 14: “80% of the country’s electricity consumption now sourced from renewable energy, primarily wind power.”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
check_circle
Claim 15: “Friedrich Merz... the German chancellor”
CORROBORATED
Multiple cross-references from Flipboard and reporting from Euronews identify Friedrich Merz as the German Chancellor.
compare_arrows
cross reference SUPPORTS — Friedrich Merz, the chancellor of Germany
https://flipboard.com/topic/news/europe-tries-a-trumpian-tac…
compare_arrows
cross reference SUPPORTS — Friedrich Merz, the chancellor of Germany
https://flipboard.com/topic/news/america-s-national-debt-is-…
compare_arrows
cross reference SUPPORTS — Friedrich Merz, the chancellor of Germany
https://flipboard.com/topic/news/europe-tries-a-trumpian-tac…
+ 2 more evidence sources
check_circle
Claim 16: “All have ratings that are worse than Donald Trump (38% approve, 57% disapprove and 6% don’t know)”
CORROBORATED
Multiple sources, including Hindustan Times and IBTimes, report the Economist/YouGov poll showing Donald Trump with a 38% approval and 57% disapproval rating.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — The weekly poll by the Economist/YouGov showed that US President Donald Trump has a 38 per cent approval rating and a 57 per cent disapproval rating. For the seventh straight week, his net approval ra…
https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/us-news/trump-appr…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — READ: Donald Trump Approval Ratings: What Polls Say Entering G20 And Amid Russia Investigation.By contrast, the approval tracker showed a 57 percent disapproval rating.
https://www.ibtimes.com/trump-approval-remains-steady-conser…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — President Donald Trump’s approval rating just notched a new second-term low in the latest Economist/YouGov survey, underscoring a reality that’s been settling in for months: Americans may be used to T…
https://thedailyadda.com/2026/01/22/donald-trumps-approval-r…
schedule
Claim 17: “According to World Bank data, Europe’s share of global economic output, measured in current US dollars, fell from roughly 33% to 23% between 2005 and 2024”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
schedule
Claim 18: “Denmark’s economy is expected to grow by between 2% and 3% this year.”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.