Luke O'Reilly

1 week ago | labourlist.org | Luke O'Reilly

Labour is still the most popular party among Brexit-backing 2019 Conservative voters who switched to the party in 2024, according to polling shared exclusively with LabourList. The demographic, known as “hero voters” due to their outsized value as swing voters between the two biggest parties, were key to Labour’s landslide victory last July. Polling commissioned by Field Consulting in partnership with Focaldata asked which party such voters would back if there were a General Election tomorrow.

1 week ago | labourlist.org | Luke O'Reilly |Tom Belger

Labour’s policymaking process for the next election has come under fire from almost half the member representatives on Labour’s ruling body, with policy ideas no longer public, steering group meetings limited and representatives reportedly denied access to most policy work. The National Policy Forum (NPF) is the party’s official mechanism for formulating policy, with multiple party stakeholders involved in shaping a programme that eventually feeds into manifesto-writing closer to election time.

1 week ago | labourlist.org | Luke O'Reilly

Nigel Farage is more popular than even Andy Burnham and Angela Rayner in Red Wall seats, according to a new poll shared exclusively with LabourList. The Reform leader had a net approval rating of +14% among red wall voters, compared to +5% for Burnham and -19% for Rayner, new polling of 1,000 voters in 42 seats by Merlin Strategy found. Kemi Badenoch also outpolled senior Labour figures, though pollsters suggested it could partly reflect her still being little-known.

2 weeks ago | labourlist.org | Luke O'Reilly

The Labour Women’s Network (LWN) has voiced its “regret” at the party’s decision to delay its women’s conference, in a rare public criticism of the party by the socialist society. The intervention by the membership group, which is affiliated to Labour but independent and not involved in organising women’s conference, follows criticism yesterday by gender-critical and trans activists alike.

2 weeks ago | labourlist.org | Luke O'Reilly

Keir Starmer looks set to row back on cuts to winter fuel payments, in what will be widely seen as one of the most significant U-turn of his premiership so far. But the partial rowback signalled today begs the question – will it be enough to prevent the biggest parliamentary rebellion yet in just a few weeks time in another row over welfare?