By JAMES TAPSFIELD, UK POLITICAL EDITOR Published: 14:14 BST, 29 September 2025 | Updated: 15:04 BST, 29 September 2025

Britain's top elections guru has warned there seems to be no way back for Keir Starmer from his record low ratings.Professor John Curtice gave an apocalyptic assessment of Labour's situation in a briefing at the party's annual conference.With polls showing Reform on track for power and Sir Keir's own ratings at a record low, Sir John suggested the Angela Rayner and Lord Mandelson resignations had not had much impact. However, that was only because the problems were already so bad.And he cautioned that even after 15 months in power voters still did not know what Sir Keir stood for or thought on key issues. Britain's top elections guru has warned there seems to be no way back for Keir Starmer from his record low ratings Professor John Curtice gave an apocalyptic assessment of Labour 's situation in a briefing at the party's annual conferenceAsked whether there was any hope that Labour could turn it around, Sir John replied: 'The honest answer to that is no.'He added that 'clearly, if by 2029 the economy is turned around and if by 2029 the waiting lists are way, way back down', Labour might be able to recover its position.But he cast doubt on whether Sir Keir would be the leader to achieve such a turnaround. Sir John said Sir Keir had positioned himself as 'the friendly local plumber' fixing issues with 'policy pipes', when voters really wanted their leaders to be 'the architect of Valhalla'.Sir John said: 'You need to do more than change the reality, you also have to influence perception.'And clearly, the question that is being raised about the current Labour leadership is, does it have the ability to change the mind?'Saying people still did not know what Sir Keir stood for, Sir John - renowned for producing the exit poll on election nights - said: 'The mystery of Keir Stamer, who is he, what does he stand for, that mystery, we are maybe two thirds of the way through the novel, but we are still not sure where the body lies.'