Teachers turn on Keir Starmer as three quarters of union members say Labour messed up education

By ELEANOR HARDING, EDUCATION EDITOR Published: 22:14, 21 June 2026 | Updated: 22:14, 21 June 2026 Teachers have turned on the Prime Minister, with almost three-quarters of union members saying Labour has made a mess of education. The National Education Union (NEU) has called for Sir Keir Starmer to quit after polling found 72 per cent of its members believe his party has performed badly on schooling. Seven in 10 said he is performing poorly as Prime Minister – while 74 per cent thought Bridget Phillipson was doing a bad job as Education Secretary. The survey by Britain's largest teaching union comes as it prepares to hold nationwide strikes after Christmas over pay. Historically, teachers have mostly voted Labour but have fallen out of love with the party over 'broken promises' on resourcing.  Daniel Kebede, NEU general secretary, said: 'Members want change and we cannot afford another generation of children bearing the brunt of austerity-level school budgets and expecting leaders, teachers and support staff to do more with less. 'Clearly our members have seen enough of what a Starmer government has to offer on education. 'Educators have lost confidence in Bridget Phillipson. The party as a whole needs a fundamental change of direction, starting with education. Teachers have turned on the Prime Minister, with almost three-quarters of union members saying Labour has made a mess of education (pictured: Daniel Kebede, General Secretary of the National Education Union)  'That means new leadership at the top of the party and new leadership in the Department for Education.' The survey of 4,000 NEU members was carried out by public opinion consultancy Deltapoll in June.  Some 67 per cent said Labour had performed worse than expected – with 41 per cent saying 'much worse'.  When in opposition, Labour campaigned against 'school cuts' under the Tories and enjoyed a friendly relationship with the NEU, which is not affiliated with any party. But yesterday the union said 74 per cent of schools in England have less funding in real terms than they did in 2010.  In addition, it believes the Government's proposed 6.5 per cent teacher pay rise over three years will be unlikely to keep up with inflation. The union also accused the Government of failing to deliver on its election pledge of laying on 6,500 extra teachers using revenue raised from taxing private schools.  In June 2025, officials appeared to change the goalposts by saying this would not benefit primary schools. The National Education Union (NEU) has called for Sir Keir Starmer (pictured) to quit after polling found 72 per cent of its members believe his party has performed badly on schooling. The Conservatives' education spokesman, Laura Trott, said: 'Bridget Phillipson has broken her promises and let down teachers, parents and pupils across the country. 'Labour pledged that taxing education would deliver 6,500 more teachers. Instead, there are 1,900 fewer teachers in our schools, piling even more pressure on the state sector. She also failed to fully compensate schools for Rachel Reeves' jobs tax, leaving budgets in the red and forcing schools to axe jobs.' A previous survey by the union in December found that while 60 per cent of respondents said they voted Labour in 2024, only 18 per cent would do so if a general election 'was held tomorrow'. A Government spokesman said it has 'recruited thousands more teachers, hitting 70 per cent of our pledge to put 6,500 extra teachers into classrooms and increasing their pay.' The comments below have not been moderated. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.