Voters 'would rather go on night out or long car journey with Keir Starmer than Rishi Sunak', poll finds

Voters would rather spend a long car journey or a night out with Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer than Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, a poll has suggested.

But when it comes to mortgage advice, they would go to the Conservative leader, the Mail on Sunday ‘state of the nation’ poll found.

The Deltapoll survey put Sir Keir ahead of the PM in a wide range of categories, from being more trusted to look after pets and children, to telling jokes.

The poll for the Mail on Sunday found that 33% of people said they would rather hit the town with Sir Keir, compared to 25% for his Conservative counterpart, as well as choosing the former as the preferred companion for a long car journey, with 34% of votes compared to 24% for Sunak.

According to the results, 37% said they believed Sir Keir would be better at telling a joke, compared to 19% for Sunak.

However, the poll reportedly found that voters would choose Sunak to run a business over the Labour leader, while 30% said he would be the best person for mortgage advice, compared to 28% who chose Sir Keir.

Watch: Starmer: Overturning 20k Tory majority an incredible result

The results come just days after another poll suggested that Rishi Sunak would lose his own seat in parliament if there were a general election right now.

The poll, released by Find Out Now and Electoral Calculus, asked 11,000 people who they would vote for if they had to go to the ballot box immediately.

The results showed that 46% would vote for Labour, compared to 24% for the Conservatives - meaning Labour would potentially be in line for a landslide even bigger than Tony Blair's in 1997.

According to the Deltapoll survey, published on Sunday, 30% of people think the government is handling the economy 'very badly', compared to 15% who said it was going 'fairly well', with just 3% saying they are handling it 'very well'.

Read more: Asylum seekers leave Bibby Stockholm amid fears over bacteria

The poll covered other issues including people's views on whether supermakets are profiteering from the cost-of-living crisis, as well as issues around the NHS, immigration and Net Zero targets.

The poll results come as the government has faced renewed pressure over several issues including migrant crossings in the Channel as well as the housing of asylum seekers on the Bibby Stockholm barge after Legionella bacteria was discovered in the water on board.

Six people died and 59 were rescued after a boat sank off the coast of France on Saturday in what campaigners branded as an "appalling and preventable tragedy".

An investigation is underway but Labour said people smugglers were "running rings" around the government, while a Tory backbencher said the UK had a "moral duty to act".

It came just a day after asylum seekers were removed from the Bibby Stockholm barge in Dorset after Legionella bacteria was found in the vessel's water system.