Best Of

The Guardian on Labour woes

“Opinion polls don’t always provide a precise picture of voters’ mood – and the next general election is still four years away. But Labour strategists will doubtless be poring over the data, and it’s not pretty.

Analysis by the Guardian found Labour’s drop in the opinion polls in its first 10 months of power is the largest of any newly elected UK government in 40 years.”

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/may/25/the-charts-that-show-just-how-worried-labour-should-be-about-the-polls

I think of the 2026 and 2025 locals had been reversed Labour would have had that fourth behind the LDs with YouGov - next year will be apocalyptic for them. It's not impossible they go fourth in Scotland and, at best, they will be Plaids little helpers in Wales and they will likely lose well over 1000 councillors, possibly 1500-2000

Yes, when you drill into the polling the situation for Labour is actually worse than it looks. eg

“Labour is not winning the blame game on the economy – something that it put a lot of emphasis on in its early days of power with the chancellor Rachel Reeves’ claims of a “£22bn hole” of unfunded commitments for 2024.

Among those who view the economy negatively, Ipsos polling shows that the decisions of Starmer and Reeves are seen as the biggest contributing factor (56%) – more significant than the Covid-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.”

So the whole “blame the Tories, look at the black hole” shtick has already failed, and will, of course, never succeed now. No one is going to think “no, wait, I was wrong - it WAS the Tories”

Given that Labour have no clue what to do on the economy other than sad woke tinkering, this seems terminal. They need a Falklands War AND they need Farage to go away, and even that might not be enough

The Scooby Gang will be peeling off Reeves mask to reveal it was Reeves all along.
They are cooked. Actually the establishment is cooked.
Where we probably differ is that I'm 100% convinced Farage breaking everyones hearts and hopes will be just as rapid

I’m not sure we differ THAT much. I’m not convinced Farage is the solution either - I AM convinced we’ve tried everything else, so his road is the only option left

I am also convinced that mass immigration and the increasingly desperate attempts by the Establishment to pretend that it is “working” and that “diversity is our strength” is at the root of many of our problems. From low productivity to housing to “two tier justice” to our fraying national identity - the continued importation of millions of people entirely foreign to the UK is making everything worse, fast

This is not the fault of the migrants, who merely and naturally want a better life. It’s the fault of the politicians who have so casually opened our borders

It’s an experiment that has failed, disastrously. It must be ended and remedied. The Danish social democrats have shown you can do this without tearing society apart. A sensible Labour government would copy them. We don’t have a sensible government

So Farage it is

And then what ?

A failed Farage government, aside from all the socioeconomic damage it may cause, could be replaced by a hard left government.

So be it. You Tories had your chance. We gave you 14 fucking years and you rewarded our votes with gross incompetence, venal greed, oafish arrogance and terminal stupidity. Your party must die. Good riddance and bye bye

I'm not a Tory and I had plenty of criticisms over those 14 years.

If Farage was offering competent, patriotic Reform I could happily vote for it.

Instead he's promising magic money tree fantasies, heavily tinged with Trumpist and Putinist sympathies.

Farage may be that or he may not. We’ve never seen him in government so who knows

The fact is the Tories catastrophically failed in their 14 years and now Labour have catastrophically failed in just 10 months

Why should any British voter give them ANOTHER chance? There is no reason for this, it is Einstein’s definition of madness. Given that the Libs are just more-of-the-same that leaves us with Farage

Don’t just bin us off with the LabCon. We’re looking at radical changes starting with a solution to care. Needs to me much more more, but it’s a start. And it’s not that Refirm really have polices yet either, just slogans

I’m sorry but no one on God’s green earth is ever going to think “Britain needs radical solutions to terrible problems, who can provide that? - of course, the Lib Dems and “Sir” Ed Davey!”

Yours is a party for cautious, affluent, morally vain middle class people who like to be a tiny bit different but not much

You are quintessentially niche. You might prosper as the Lab Con dual star system finally dies. But Mrs Thatcher Vintage 1979 you are not. And that’s what Britain now needs. A new Thatcher to break everything up

Thatcher would be disgusted with Farage prioritising restoring the WFA and scrapping the two child benefit cap.

Farage isn't "a new Thatcher"; he's a pound shop Trump.

As someone else wrote, what a way to start a Sunday morning!
I wish Ms Cyclefree all the best; others in my circle are in a similar position and it's exceedingly worrying. However she is, compared with those in my circle, quite young and has therefore a reasonable chance of coming to a position where matters are going to admittedly deteriorate, but much more slowly.
I was told, some three years ago, at the age of 84, that if I did not have an operation on my spine I would be, in a couple of years, paralysed and bed-bound. I had the operation and while I'm by no means as mobile as I was five years ago, when things started to go wrong, I am sitting in my study in front of a computer typing this. Not well, admittedly, but I am.
I walked here from the breakfast table, admittedly again using a walking aid, but I can get about the house. I have to have help showering and so on but I'm by no means bed-bound. And I've bought an electric scooter on which I can do some shopping, go to social groups within a reasonable range and get into at least one of the local pubs, luckily my favourite.
The point of this is to cry Nil Desperandum, and to encourage Ms Cyclefree to go for it and work towards recovery. The support post operation that I've had from physios, occupational therapists and the like has been encouraging; I am now having monthly appointments with a physio who thinks he can get me walking unaided, before too long.
I've also had considerable support on here, notably from MattW.
So while I am certain that when our colleague looks to the future it looks anything but rosy, with determination and support she can find a future which fulfilling and rewarding.