A message for Keir Starmer as the party kicks off its conference in Brighton.
New polling by Savanta ComRes – released during Labour party conference this weekend – reveals that voters think the party must have a ‘broader vision, rather than specific policies’ to win the next election.
More than two in five (42%) voters in Britain say the party needs a clearer vision to win, as pressure mounts on Keir Starmer amid a fractious gathering for the party in Brighton. UK adults were also almost twice as likely to say that electoral pacts with the Green Party (32% vs 16%) or Liberal Democrats (31% vs 18%) in key seats would improve Labour’s chances rather than worsen them.
And, these three proposals are even more popular amongst Labours voters, with 46% of 2019 Lab voters saying that a ‘broader vision, rather than specific policies’ would improve their chances at the next election, and two in five saying the same of either a pact with the Greens (42%) or Liberal Democrats (41%).
Two in five of both the UK public as a whole (41%) and 2019 Lab voters (42%) say that replacing Sir Keir Starmer as the leader of the party with Tony Blair would worsen Labour’s chances at the next election.
A quarter of Labour voters think that replacing Starmer with Blair would improve their chances (25%), while just over one in five say it would make no difference (22%).
The poll also found that two in five Labour voters say that the party is treated unfairly by the media (38%), falling to just three in ten of UK adults overall who say the same (28%).
Keir Starmer recently rejected the idea of a progressive alliance at a national level – but the door may be open for local non-agression pacts.
Responding to the finding that voters believe electoral pacts would help Labour, left-wing think tank Compass’ director Neal Lawson told Left Foot Forward “This poll tells us Labour has everything to gain and nothing to fear from a progressive alliance.”
Full tables:
How do 2019 Labour voters think the following things would improve, worsen, or make no difference to the chances of Labour winning the next General Election?
| Electoral pact with Greens in key seats | Electoral pact with LDM in key seats | Having a broader vision rather than specific policies | Replace Starmer with Tony Blair | Replace Starmer with ethnic minority leader | Replace Starmer with a female leader | Replace Starmer with a leader with a Northern constituency | |
| Improve | 42% | 41% | 46% | 25% | 32% | 36% | 42% |
| Make no difference | 31% | 27% | 30% | 22% | 40% | 38% | 34% |
| Worsen | 12% | 16% | 12% | 42% | 14% | 14% | 10% |
How do UK adults overall think that the following things would improve, worsen, or make no difference to the chances of the Labour winning the next General Election?
| Electoral pact with Greens in key seats | Electoral pact with LDM in key seats | Having a broader vision rather than specific policies | Replace Starmer with Tony Blair | Replace Starmer with ethnic minority leader | Replace Starmer with a female leader | Replace Starmer with a leader with a Northern constituency | |
| Improve | 32% | 31% | 42% | 22% | 24% | 29% | 33% |
| Make no difference | 32% | 30% | 29% | 21% | 39% | 38% | 37% |
| Worsen | 16% | 18% | 12% | 41% | 18% | 15% | 11% |
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