Labour and Starmer suffer sharp fall in popularity since election, poll suggests – UK politics live | Politics

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2024/sep/13/government-online-safety-act-social-media-revenge-porn-uk-politics-live

Posted by Tyler119

47 Comments

  1. baron_von_helmut on

    Well duh. Half the population think positive change should be immediate while ignoring the mountain of bullshit Labour have inherited from the Tories.

  2. While polls ultimately don’t matter when the next GE is 5 years away, there are a few implications. Labour will likely underperform in next year’s local elections, with Greens and Independents picking up urban city council seats. If this continues it may also hurt their 2026 Welsh and Scottish parliament election results. Lastly, at the back of Labour HQ’s mind, a part of them must be worried that the 33% support they got is the ceiling and it’s all downhill from here.

    But until Reform voters flow back to the Tories, they don’t have that much to worry about.

  3. >*🌹LAB 29% (-6)*
    *🌳CON 25% (-)*
    *🔶 LIB DEM 14% (+2)*
    *➡️ REF UK 18% (+3)*
    *💚 GREEN 8% (+2)*
    *🟡 SNP 3% (-)*

    They are losing out to populist parties on their left and right rather than to their big political rivals. The Greens and Reform. The electorate is very deeply fragmented.

  4. Their messaging is terrible at the moment – it’s all over-the-top doom and gloom. Get busy with fixing stuff, make some positive moves like finishing HS2.

  5. Yeah man he keeps saying “you shouldn’t like us, we have to be unpopular, you must suffer”. Just doing what we’re told!!

  6. It’s because people need some optimism and for him to use all the talent at his disposal to actually better things.
    I think it’s rather patronizing being told how shit things are financially, it’s like, we know. We’re the people who have actually lived through the economic shit storm, because we don’t have a massive financial cushion like he does.
    I understand that I’m impatient, and I’d love to be proven wrong, but to me it’s like, well it’s your chance now, piss or get off the pot.

  7. Don’t think this country can recover in the next 10 or 20 years. The worst case scenario cannot be recovered because the severe damage has been done by the tory.

  8. I guess it’s pretty irrelevant now as we’re 5 years from an election. If you’re going to be unpopular do it with a bloody huge majority sharpish so you can do an “I told you so” in the couple of years run up to when it matters. Risky but if they believe in what they are doing and it works it’s probably the only way to go. If not, Boom, Kemi for PM.

  9. When he gets voted out, and im pretty sure its when at this point because Labour won based on the fact the tories shit their pants not on policy, anyone would have won against the tories with them shitting their pants and the reform party splintering them.

    I’m gonna look back at this and the smug folks who kept praising starmers centerist rhetoric.

  10. Labour are giving no indication that they are putting an end to the incredibly unpopular austerity measures that we’ve endured for 14 years now. Suffice to say, carrying on with business as usual is not going to be popular.

  11. Mr_Bubble_and_Squeak on

    It feels like this was the most lame duck election in my lifetime. Useless tories or useless labour. I don’t feel like any political party in the uk has a sensible and “realistic” way forward.

  12. They wasnt popular anyway. the only reason anyone voted labour was because it was a protest votebagainst the tories…

  13. I don’t know which is worse: to ignore social distress, as do the majority of those who have been favored by fortune and those who have risen in the social scale through their own routine labour, or the equally arrogant and often tactlessness displayed by people who make a fad of being charitable and who claim to ‘feel for the people’. In any case, such people sin more than they can imagine. Consequently, and to their own astonishment, they find that the ‘social conscience’ on which they pride themselves never produces any results; rather, it often causes resentment. And then they talk of the ingratitude of the people.

  14. Oh wow, you mean to tell me neoliberal policy isn’t popular?! What a shocker! If only someone was providing an alternative to this!

  15. Low-Educator6026 on

    Haha just wait till they get started- everyone will hate them soon. Well nearly everyone, if you’re idle, lazy and think the world owes you a living you’ll love what comes next 😂

  16. People voted Labour because they wanted a little hope. Labour looked at the books and found they couldn’t afford hope apparently. If people think this is bad, wait until the budget. Those who can shoulder the burden will suddenly include the disabled, those on benefits, and the poorest in society the way labour is going.

  17. Low-Educator6026 on

    After all cutting the WFA is double win to get started. Saves cash straight away and more old people will die so they will get inheritance tax receipts sooner than they would otherwise.

  18. External-Piccolo-626 on

    Well of course, they are now have to actually make decisions and upset people. It was so easy for them in opposition, they didn’t really have to do much, just sit back and watch. I think they’ll be even more unpopular after the budget.

  19. Personal_Lab_484 on

    They won’t and shouldn’t really care. The Tories are so utterly beyond toxic that I don’t think they can even come back for another election cycle. Maybe 2030s if they’re lucky.

    The FPTP is getting worse and more exposed by the day. We are seeing a fall away from two parties with a solid third of the electorate not wanting to vote Lab or Con.

    The big winner here may be the Lib Dem’s. Who will likely be far enough removed from their own disaster under Clegg to sweep up the centre.

    Either way labour have 5 years clearance. Make the horrible decisions now then pray to fuck things get better by 2029.

  20. Lol I definitely hoped for a labour government, and now I’m finding myself once again relearning to be careful of what I wish for.

  21. Longjumping-Yak-6378 on

    Not me, I thought he was awful before the election too. I didn’t think he’d go off the wall so fast but I didn’t trust him not to go off the wall.

  22. I mean the handling of the riots was terrible, one rule for some and others for everyone else was an absolute joke, can arrest some bad mouthed woman for naughty words online but 20+ guys hospitalised some guys outside a pub and zero arrests, that’s one of the big factors, also that immigration (illegal mainly) has rocketed and they’d doing nothing to stop it.

    He got in promising to help the working class and to protect our country and because the Tories were fucking terrible. He’s done the opposite of everything so far.

    However it’s been fuck all time and if they actually do what they said then the numbers will jump and they will get another term, as it stands we’re getting reform next election, that’s how bad it’s got.

  23. We’re about to head back into a cold dark winter and people want at least a glimmer of optimism.

    I welcome the downfall of the cons and I’m glad they got booted out, I understand the country is in a shit state and is going to take ages to fix and it will be painful.

    I would however like to hear my prime minister be positive once in a while.

  24. Did no one tell Starmer that the reason the Tories got away with so much shit after 2010 is because they had the LibDems to blame (and bitter Labour supporters would also happily blame the LibDems)?

  25. Pick something society needs. And throw everything you have at putting it right. NHS, Care homes, Mental Health, the Railways, Energy, Housing, Immigration. Just fucking pick one and fix it. Fuck me.

  26. It’s been two months and Starmer’s government has been an absolute farce. Can’t believe people actually put this clown in charge of our country

  27. Honestly, at the moment the only thing they are laying the foundations for is a Reform government in 2029.

    Right now, they should be ramping up investments that will improve people’s lives before then, which is tough – it’s a short timescale. But they seem to be making Osbourne’s mistake – slashing investment because it’s an easy target for spending cuts.

    Housing is the elephant in the room. Should be simple : there is a severe housing shortage (which populists can blame on immigrants), we need, somehow, to be building a large amount of public housing within 3 years. Not going to get there with penny pinching cuts.

  28. Nothing positive, and promise of negatives in October budget. Bans smoking in public areas during a depressive time when peoples only solace is a fag and a beer after work before some shitty ramen noodles.

  29. It has been depressing thus far, but I think they are copying the 1997 Blair government playbook where they continued already announced Tory measures and then put there own stamp on things. For that reason alone I will cut them some slack. That said they do need to announce things that people can relate to more positively. Also let’s get the autumn statement out of the way and then see.

  30. A former colleague of mine was an extremely active Labour supporter, canvassing, leafletting and generally talking about how Labour would fix things non-stop.

    Then Starmer got voted in and he cancelled his membership on the day, I paraphrase: ‘Starmer is a Tory in disguise, he only cares about getting into power’.

    Prescient.

  31. They need to start focusing on some more positive news rather than the doom and gloom. We get it, the country is fucked but what’s the plan? Where’s the progress on the changes?

    Why not do some low hanging fruit wins like pushing for local changes like fix some pot holes or clean up some areas? They’re small but it makes a visible change quickly. And then people can visibly see your work in play.

  32. I can’t believe they are taking money off pensioners after rewarding train drivers with pay increases, it stinks .

  33. They were never really popular. They just weren’t the Tory party. They have got to clear up their shit show. It’s no fun clearing up somebody else’s mess and you won’t win any popularity contests doing it.

  34. Dry_Sandwich_860 on

    Brits hate to take responsibility. Voters chose 14 years of decline. Those who supported Labour participated because they allowed their leaders to engage in over a decade of absence and navel-gazing instead of providing an opposition to the Tories. That allowed the Tories to run rampant. Now the same people are whinging and complaining because they’re unable to figure out that they’re being manipulated by the likes of the Daily Mail and they’re upset that Starmer hasn’t been able to turn things around in weeks.

    The major issue Starmer is having though is OAPs whining that they’re FINALLY being made to lose just one of their many many handouts. They’re vocal, pushy, and selfish enough to be whining even though no one else has anything more to give. I hope Starmer ignores them because I bet there are many more people like me who are happy to see the Boomers finally being forced to contribute.

    It’s the tabloids that are feeding the negative narrative right now. Starmer needs to fight back.

  35. Starmer is a terrible communicator. As a former prosecutor and was bestowed the title ‘Sir’ I thought he’d be passionately fiery and a fighter, yet, he’s awful. I see a Gordon Brown situation with him tbh. When he speaks he frustrates the hell out of me, even the messaging with the pensioners and heating would it kill him to be very clear in verbally explaining how the vulnerable will be protected and the wealthy won’t receive it, like, how difficult is that?????

    I think he’ll lead to a Tory Nigel Farage Prime Minister. Sadly.