UK's Starmer gets poll boost as he steps up Ukraine diplomacy

LONDON (Reuters) - The number of Britons who think Prime Minister Keir Starmer is doing a good job has risen as he steps up his role in diplomacy over the war in Ukraine, an opinion poll showed.

Starmer met U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington on February 27 and hosted talks involving Ukraine's president and European leaders on March 2. He has played up his role as a go-between while also trying to protect Britain from U.S. tariffs.

An Ipsos UK poll for The Times newspaper showed 30% of Britons now think Starmer is doing a good job as prime minister, up from 23% last month, although 45% said he is doing a bad job.

Ipsos carried out its polling online from March 4 to 5.

Starmer met Trump in Washington one day before Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy clashed in the Oval Office with the U.S. president, who has upended U.S. policy on Ukraine.

European leaders agreed at their talks in London last Sunday to draw up a peace plan to present to Washington, and European Union leaders on Thursday backed plans to spend more on defence.

The Ipsos poll showed 44% of Britons think government spending on defence should be increased, even if this means extra government borrowing, higher taxes or less money to spend on other public services - a rise from 42% in February.

Ipsos interviewed 981 adults aged 18-75 across Britain.

(Reporting by James Davey, Editing by Timothy Heritage)

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