
Labour is in a tough spot after the local elections. The results were disappointing, and although the Conservatives did worse, Reform UK, led by Nigel Farage, had a surprisingly strong performance. But even though Reform gained ground, it doesn’t mean they’re on their way to winning the next general election. Farage may pull in one supporter, but he pushes away two or three more. That kind of reaction makes it very hard for him to actually win big on a national level.
The truth is, the UK political scene is now all over the place. If Labour doesn’t step up and prove to people that it can deliver real results, the country could end up with a hung parliament, where no single party has full control. Polls done after the election show that most of the people who switched from Labour to Reform weren’t truly supporting Farage—they were just sending a message that they’re frustrated with how things are going. It was a protest vote.
This isn’t new. We’ve seen voters express their anger mid-way through a government’s term before, like with the Lib Dems or even the old SDP in the 1980s, who looked strong in the polls but then disappeared when it came time to vote for real. So Labour does have a chance to win those people back, but it needs to act now.
One big mistake Labour made was cutting the Winter Fuel Allowance. It might have sounded reasonable on paper, but it caused a lot of people to lose trust. To fix that damage, Labour should find a way to bring back the full allowance and show voters they’re really listening.
On immigration, Labour already has some policies in place, like offshore processing, stricter limits on appeals, and cracking down on bad immigration lawyers. But they need to make these policies actually work and explain clearly how they’re reducing the numbers. People want to know that immigration is under control, and Labour has to talk about it in a way that connects with the public.
There are also some positive things Labour could be shouting about, but they haven’t done a good job of that. Wages are rising faster than prices for the first time in a decade. NHS waiting times have gone down for seven straight months. Deportations are up. They’ve hired 13,000 new local police officers. Every council got 40% more money to fix potholes. Workers’ rights are being improved, and the minimum wage is rising three times faster than inflation. Plus, changes in housing and planning are creating new homes and boosting the economy more than ever before.
These are wins that need to be communicated clearly and often. Right now, Labour isn’t telling its story well, and that’s a major problem.
To take on Reform and Farage, Labour must go hard. They need to point out how Farage supports private health insurance for the NHS, his soft spots for Putin and Trump, and how his economic plans could be as damaging as what Liz Truss did. The public needs to see that Farage’s ideas are unrealistic and risky.
Most importantly, Labour has to improve its communication fast. When Bill Rammell was part of the last Labour government, they made sure to tell people every single day what they were doing and why. That’s the kind of approach they need now. If they do that, they can win back the angry voters and come out strong in the next election.