At Labour conference, Shadow Brexit Secretary Keir Starmer promised that “nobody is ruling out remain as an option.” But this could disillusion a key demographic.

2014 and 2015 were great years for UKIP. The eurosceptic party gained 4,376,635 votes at the European Parliament Elections, 3,881,099 votes at a General Election and two MP’s sitting in Parliament.

This was the height of anti-EU sentiment. A time before the Brexit referendum, when important issues such as healthcare, education, and the economy were largely relegated while the public fixated on immigration and EU membership.

The Labour Party lost traditional working-class support to the far right and to Scottish Nationalists. Whilst it could be argued that the SNP were to blame for Labour’s election failure in 2015, the loss of votes to UKIP was also to blame for Labour’s poor showing. Labour attempted to woo working-class voters through reforming its immigration policies. However, the values of the working-class had shifted to more typically right-wing values.

This isn’t a radical new trend. The Labour Party has always had a strong nationalistic/patriotic working-class voice. However, their voice has been marginalised and radicalised through apathy towards their concerns. If Labour is to win another election it must mobilise these voices under a Labour banner with Labour values. To this, Labour must not cave further into the centre and abandon Brexit.

The Brexit referendum, and subsequent vote to Leave the EU, presented Labour with a perfect opportunity to win back support from those apathetic towards Labour’s policies. By promising not to reverse the decision of the referendum the Labour Party directly aligned itself with the interests of those it had once been perceived as leaving behind.

However, at the Labour Party Conference on Tuesday, Keir Starmer, the Shadow Brexit Secretary, promised that “Nobody is ruling out remain as an option.” After a steady showing in recent polls, it will be interesting to see how the public react to this statement. Whether the public mood has changed in favour of remain or whether this will further disillusion working-class voters whose trust Labour was slowly starting to win back.

In the past week, YouGov reported that the Labour Party could gain 1.5m more votes by backing a second Brexit referendum. Dubbed the ‘The Peoples Vote’, a second Brexit referendum would allow the public a final say on any Brexit deal. Data from YouGov suggests that 26% of respondent would be more likely to vote for Labour should they back a second referendum. However, latest polling from YouGov, on 4 and 5 September, suggests that the public does not want a referendum to accept the terms of any Brexit deal.

The poll asked, “Once Brexit negotiations are complete and the terms of Britain’s exit from the EU have been agreed, do you think there should or should not be a referendum to accept or reject them?” 40% of respondents suggested there should whilst 41% stated there should not. In fact, the polls have shown consistently since the referendum that the public, by majority, do not want a second referendum.

With consistent calls for the Labour Leadership to back a second referendum from centrist politicians, such as Lord Adonis, perhaps this was the leaderships ways of bringing an uneasy peace to a party with an elephant in the room. However, it did nothing to win back to voters who have abandoned Labour.

Although the Labour Party could win over the Liberal Democrats by backing a second referendum, it can’t win the country. The Labour party must pay heed to the voice of the working-class.

James Hewlett is an MA student studying Political Communications at Leeds University.

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