Latest news with #anti-Conservative
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
As Labour chases Reform, they're bleeding votes on the left
Just two weeks after Reform UK's local election triumph, the government announced a major crackdown on immigration. But while Labour scrambles to neutralise the threat from the right, it risks losing another, just as substantial, cohort to its left, argues Fonie Mitsopoulou. The electorate doesn't love Labour at the moment. Recent polls indicate that of those that voted Labour in the 2024 election, only 46 per cent would do so again were an election to happen tomorrow. In Labour's leftist flanks, there is a persistent feeling that Starmer has deserted his traditional base by shifting to the right by an unwelcome degree, cutting down on welfare and legal migration. 43 per cent of Labour voters feel that their party is trying to appeal to Reform UK voters. The party's manifesto vowed to lower net migration, but Prime Minister Keir Starmer's speech announcing plans to curb the influx went further than anything the party promised in the run up to the election. It wasn't lost on many that Starmer gave that speech just two weeks after Labour was doled a net loss of 187 councillors at the May local election. Right across, Reform's numbers swelled. The party netted 677 seats, from a standing start. But while the Starmer administration try to stop a bleed from the right, there is also a vacuum for disenchanted Labour voters who remain impervious to Reform's temptations. In fact, the largest portion of Labour's supporters are now undecided voters – up for grabs. In focus groups, More in Common pollster Ed Hodgson found an unprecedented number of people citing that the government is deaf to their concerns. 'Whereas, if you look at it objectively, the government now probably has more access to opinion data than they've ever had, and they probably are listening even more than any other government,' Hodgson said. While the government recently reversed the wildly unpopular winter fuel payment cuts, they incurred opprobrium for delaying it by ten months from when the policy change was announced. According to Hodgson, 'if people listen badly, it's almost worse than not listening at all.' Interpreting focus groups 'in bad faith' to 'basically justify what you want to do anyway,' or seeming like Number 10 is making decisions just because they poll well, then politicians lose 'a lot of their credibility and authenticity,' Hodgson added. Another explanation is that 2024 Labour voters aren't 'real', card-carrying Labour voters. For Steve Akehurst, pollster and director of Persuasion UK, Labour benefited as anti-Conservative voters rallied behind what seemed like the Tories' strongest opponent at the time. Where do disillusioned, leftist, ex-Labour supporters go? It depends on their age. 'The younger ones are pretty clearly going to the Green Party and … the older groups are pretty clearly going to the Liberal Democrats,' said Hosgson. Younger generations don't have as much of an entrenched party identity. 'In the past, you would have a much bigger flank of people who saw themselves as a Labour voter or see themselves as a Conservative person,' said Hodgson, noting that 'particularly with young people, those tethers are sort of disconnected.' While the dangers of Reform are making the political weather, it is Lib Dems that have taken the biggest bite out of Labour's voter share. As much as 12 per cent of them have defected to the Lib Dems. For Akehurst, this is 'just a bit nuts.' The Lib Dems gained 163 local councillors in the recent elections, bringing them up to 370. A Liberal Democrat source told City AM that at the 2026 local elections, it will become apparent in 'key areas in London' that the Lib Dems 'are the real challengers to Labour.' The Lib Dem conception of their charm is their ability to occupy an unreserved space as an unobjectionable alternative when the other parties disappoint. The source said that as 'both Labour and the Conservatives desert Middle England, we are proving to be able to fill that gap with our community politics at local level and refusal to kowtow to Donald Trump on the national stage.' Steff Acquarone, Lib Dem MP, summarised the party's brand – which is not always apparent – to City AM. 'We believe in business and free enterprise. We also believe in individual liberty,' he said. 'I don't really see the left-right spectrum as massively indicative anymore. I think we describe ourselves as progressive,' Aquarone said. However, Aquarone denies that they are 'One Nation' Tories – who perch on the socially liberal end of the Conservative Party – 'in a different colour.' What distinguishes the Lib Dems is, for Aquarone, their 'internationalist' stance. 'You can see Tory members shimmering in frustration with some of the frankly unhinged things that their party is saying at the moment, but I don't think we're One Nation Conservatives wearing a different colour.' The Greens are often discounted, but they snagged nine per cent of Labour's 2024 voters according to Akehurst, and they're hoping to convert even more. In fact, the party won a record high number of seats in the recent local elections, adding a net 43 to their ranks – 859 seats on 181 councils. But the Greens have a PR problem: the majority of people don't know how they feel about the co-leaders. 82 per cent don't hold an opinion on Adrian Ramsay; it's 75 per cent for Carla Denyer. The party is in the process of refreshing its brand and changing its leadership. Denyer is stepping down, and Green rules state that puts both leadership seats up for grabs. Zach Polanski, deputy leader, is challenging Ramsay in the running for Green leader (Green rules also dictate co-leaders must represent both genders). Polanski told City AM Starmer's stumbles explain the migration of voters. 'The Labour Party are absolutely letting people down from a range of policies, from the winter fuel payments, to the two child benefit cap,' to their 'appalling' record of 'standing up for refugees' and to the government's mutable stance on the 'genocide in Gaza, which they seem to be changing their rhetoric on.' 'There's this vacuum in politics, and we've seen Reform and Nigel Farage trying to step into it on the right,' he said. But Polanski has a plan to win over the voters on the left; 'there's a huge space for the Green Party to be bolder and really speak to people who used to vote Labour and say; 'you're not leaving the Labour Party, the Labour Party has left you'.' Polanksi doesn't identify his party with partisan politics, either. 'I don't see it as kind of the old spectrum of politics,' Polanski said. 'Actually, when you look at where we've won seats at council level from other parties, it's often equal between the Labour Party and Conservative Party,' he added. 'I think it's about being really clear about what we stand for and being really clear about what we stand against,' he said. 'Whether you're a young renter who is living in the city that wants rent controls, or you're a farmer who is being screwed over by aggregate corporate capital, or the supermarkets aren't paying you what you deserve for the food,' for Polanski, the Greens' appeal is cross-cutting. The fact that voters are more amenable to non-mainstream parties might indicate a trend towards issue voting. However, tracking parties' views without the left-right heuristic can become disorienting. Recent Reform voters disproportionately turned to Nigel Farage out of a desire for change, seeking a divergence from the same two parties that have alternated control of the government for decades. It seems that the Lib Dems and Greens are benefiting from the same inclination to vote in protest, enabling them to break out – at least for now – from their status as niche, non-establishment parties.
Wales Online
06-05-2025
- Politics
- Wales Online
Eluned Morgan's brutal takedown of Reform UK
Eluned Morgan's brutal takedown of Reform UK Wales' First Minister laid into Nigel Farage's party Eluned Morgan admitted Nigel Farage's Reform UK could get into power in Wales (Image: Getty Images ) Reform UK is "cynical, dishonest and dangerous" and full of "fear, fury and false promises" - that's according to Wales' First Minister Eluned Morgan. In a speech made in Cardiff to mark a year to go until the Senedd elections in Wales, the First Minister attacked Reform UK but also said that people being tempted to vote for Plaid Cymru should be aware that doing so could allow Nigel Farage's party into power. Polling has shown that Labour faces a serious threat from both Plaid Cymru and Reform UK at the 2026 election. There will be a whole new system in place for the election - new constituencies, an increase to 96 Senedd members, and a new way of people casting their ballot. For our free daily briefing on the biggest issues facing the nation, sign up to the Wales Matters newsletter here Mrs Morgan used the speech to criticise the UK Government and say she was losing patience with her UK Labour colleagues and called on them to "rethink" winter fuel payment changes and that widespread cuts to benefit reform was not the way to get people back into work. She admitted she had made the speech "more forthright" as a result of the council election results in England which saw Reform triumph at the cost of Labour and the Conservatives. In her speech, made at Cardiff's Norwegian Church, the Welsh Labour leader said: "Reform is no joke. They're loud and they're showy, they provide an easy story because they're new and disruptive, they sow and reap grievance. Article continues below "They offer simplistic responses and no real answers. And if you scratch the surface, what's underneath? A party with no answers for Welsh problems, no plan for our communities, no respect for devolution. "They want to use Wales to make a point in the English press. Their leader is on the record for admiring Putin and sucking up to Trump. He'd happily dismantle all the NHS and sell off our public services. But we have seen Nigel Farage's party up close in the Senedd. "In 2016, the UK independence Party won seven seats, but they fell apart as a group when they made contact with serious politics, with six of them leaving for three different groups. "They call immigration the enemy, while ignoring the fact that our health and care system would collapse without migrant workers. They're cynical, they're dishonest, they're dangerous. "Fear, fury and false promises - the very worst of the Trump playbook. But they are ahead in some polls, and the risk has never been greater," she said. Speaking about when she took over as Labour leader last August, Mrs Morgan said she knew "change" was coming. "A new voting system, a new era, Welsh Labour, a government that's already delivered for 26 years but I also realised the risks of a divided anti-Conservative left vote and the rise of the right wing Reform Party put the whole shape of the future of Wales. That's bleak. Time for change isn't just a slogan, it's a demand." "Time for change isn't just a slogan, it's a demand. And at the next Senedd elections, Labour will answer that call". She told anyone considering Plaid Cymru should be aware that could risk allowing Reform UK into power. "If you share our values and you're tempted by Plaid ask yourself this 'Is the prospect of Reform slipping through the back door a risk that you're willing to take?' "A vote for Plaid risks letting Reform take power." She also spoke directly to Reform voters. "So to anyone tempted by Reform, my message is simple: 'Come home to the party that built the NHS, that stands by our local councils, carers, health workers, teachers and the working people of Wales'. This is where you belong." In response, a Reform UK spokesman said: "Welsh Labour is more focused on slogans than solutions. While the First Minister talks about a 'red Welsh way' and promises to 'challenge from within' Labour has had decades in power and failed to deliver meaningful change for the people of Wales. "Labour wants to sound bold but avoids taking real stands. Whether in Westminster or Cardiff Bay, their record is one of stagnation, mismanagement, and missed opportunities. "Plaid Cymru offer noise without direction, and the Conservatives have overseen neglect of key areas like infrastructure and local services. Communities across Wales continue to be overlooked. "Reform UK offers a clear alternative to the status quo. It's time for a government that works for the people, not the political elites." Article continues below Labour is on course for its worst election result in the history of devolution according to a major new poll. Read more on that here
The Guardian
01-05-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Local elections 2025: full mayoral and council results for England
Polling has taken place in councils across England, and there have been six mayoral elections. Voters also went to the polls in a parliamentary byelection in Runcorn and Helsby. On 1 May many county councils in England are up for election. In areas with two tiers of local government, the county councils are the upper tier, with responsibility for big-budget areas such as education and social care. Some unitary authorities are also up for election. In addition there are elections for mayors of combined authorities, including some new authorities, and two directly elected single-authority mayors. These are some of the councils that show the key trends in the elections. The charts show the percentage of seats held in each council, by party. Regions in white are up for election. The size of the circle indicates the seats gained as a percentage of the number that were up for election. Labour had relatively little at stake in Keir Starmer's first major electoral test since becoming prime minister, as they were going into the election defending less than half the number of council seats up for election compared with the Conservatives. Many of these council areas have been deeply Conservative for years, so expectations of significant Conservative losses were high. The Lib Dems could make substantial gains if they can capitalise on anti-Conservative feeling in the centre-right, especially in areas such as Oxfordshire and Kent. These are not traditionally strong Green areas for the most part, but university cities such as Canterbury and Exeter will be voting as part of their respective counties. Independent candidates made significant gains in 2024, largely at the expense of Labour, both in the local elections and general elections. Reform were called the 'wild card' going into the election, with the party having high hopes in regions like Kent and Lincolnshire. These results are provided by the Press Association media newswire (PA). Numbers for change in seats are calculated against the state of the council just before this election. Other organisations calculate using the previous election, and this can lead to discrepancies. They may also announce individual ward councillor results as they become known, while PA release results for each council only when its full count is complete. PA collates results only for elections that were due in this electoral cycle, meaning there may be council byelection results in other parts of the country that are not included. There are frequent changes in ward boundaries, sometimes accompanied by changes in the number of councillors overall.
CBC
26-04-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Carney, Singh stage duelling rallies in London as Liberals look to flip NDP stronghold
With only a weekend to go until election day, Liberal Leader Mark Carney and NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh shifted their attention to London, Ont., on Friday, ending the campaign's final week with duelling events in ridings that have incumbents from the other's party. Singh's event on Friday evening at London Brewing Co-operative marked his second campaign visit to the core area riding of London Centre, while Carney's rally an hour later at Fanshawe College was his first to London—Fanshawe, the NDP stronghold that polling suggests will be a battleground riding on Monday. "I think it's just really important that we show our support, and we get out there and talk to everybody to make sure that they vote. But I'm still nervous," said London resident Tiffany Hillman, one of several hundred people attending the Carney event, staged in an expansive room in the college's 'C' Building. Carney arrived at the college at about 7:30 p.m. from Cambridge, after stopping in Georgetown and Sault Ste. Marie earlier in the day, and was introduced on the stage by his wife, Diana Fox Carney. "We're at a college, a place of education, excitement, engagement, and ... empowerment. You get a quiz every once in a while, so I have a question," Carney told the crowd. "Who's ready? Who's ready to stand up for Canada with me?" "I feel pretty confident" about Carney's chances, said Alex Harrington, a Western University student and first-time voter, acknowledging that, like Hillman, he's still a bit nervous about Monday. "I know every time I look at the national polls, the lead narrows a little bit. I know [U.S. President Donald] Trump just made some more comments about the whole 51st state stuff, so that tends to help, at least with the Liberals." Liberals targeting NDP ridings As the election campaign nears the finish line, the Liberals have been targeting orange ridings to draw away NDP support and secure a majority. The New Democrats, meanwhile, have been working to shore up support to save existing seats and avoid potentially losing official party status. London—Fanshawe, which has been represented by the NDP for nearly 20 years, appears to be one of the ridings the Liberals believe they have a shot at flipping in their quest for majority status. NDP incumbent Lindsay Mathyssen, who is seeking a third term, won 43 per cent of the vote in 2021. However, recent polling suggests the race this time could be a toss-up between the NDP and Liberals, poll analyst Éric Grenier told CBC Radio's London Morning on Friday. For Grenier, who runs CBC's Poll Tracker, the riding will be one to watch on election night. "Whether it is an NDP vote, a vote for Mathyssen, or is it a vote that's just going to be an anti-Conservative vote, in which case the Liberals might pick it up," he said. "If the NDP is able to hold on, stay to official party status, 12 seats, it's probably because they won a seat like London—Fanshawe." Grenier said he believes the New Democrats still have a good shot of holding the riding, something that can't be said of many other ridings the party holds, he added. As of Friday morning, CBC's Poll Tracker showed the party polling at 8.6 per cent, with victories projected in fewer than 12 seats if an election were held that day. More red Liberal signs have been popping up in the London—Fanshawe neighbourhood of Becky and Mike O'Neil compared with previous years, when it would be mostly orange NDP signs. "It's kind of crazy to think that she wouldn't be the MP there anymore, if, you know, the Liberals do get in. It's kind of nerve-racking," Becky said. "I do really support Lindsay, and I know she's very strong, and she has a lot of our support from our neighbourhood." Singh makes case at rally As the Liberals take aim at London—Fanshawe, Singh's focus on Friday was London Centre, formerly London North Centre, where he arrived after stops in Toronto and Hamilton. Liberal Peter Fragiskatos is looking for re-election there, having represented London North Centre since 2015. "This is the last stretch of this campaign, and so we got to get a couple of things straight. Talk about the elephant in the room. I know a lot of people are wondering about strategic voting," Singh told the crowd. "I get it, you're worried about Pierre Poilievre and the Conservatives. We are, too. We don't want them in. Here's the good news. Pierre is not winning this thing." Voting for the NDP, Singh said, was the only way to prevent a Liberal majority and a Conservative opposition, which would be "the worst of Carney and the worst of Conservatives." Singh has claimed the Liberals want to cut upwards of $28 billion in operating spending, money he said could come in part from provincial health transfers. Carney has said he doesn't plan to cut health-care spending, and the Liberal platform mentions maintaining provincial and personal federal transfers. A supporter in every election since 1975, Londoner Susan Smith expressed confidence in the NDP, despite the lagging polls, and brought along her Canadian Dental Care Plan card for Singh to sign. "I turn 70 in a couple of months," she said. "I wouldn't dream of giving my vote to anybody else." For Tari Ajadi, an assistant professor of political science at McGill University in Montreal, the decision by the NDP to hold a rally in London Centre instead of London—Fanshawe was interesting, given that projections from polling aggregator suggest that it's a safe Liberal seat. The New Democrats are firmly in "save the furniture kind of mode" and need to keep the east London riding and others from flipping if they want to maintain official party status, he said. "Perhaps Singh is seeing something in his internal polling that suggests maybe the NDP has a shot in that riding. I'm not really certain, to be honest," Ajadi said. It's unclear why the party held the rally in London Centre, though the brewery is located near the riding's boundary with London—Fanshawe. "Nevertheless, I still think that even if the rally is being held in one riding, the point is that, regionally speaking, a presence of Singh is important," he said.
Yahoo
14-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
'Stop Brexit Man' cleared of flouting police ban with anti-Brexit edits of Muppet Show and Darth Vader
An activist known as "Stop Brexit Man" has been cleared of flouting a police ban after playing anti-Conservative and anti-Brexit music outside parliament. Steve Bray, 56, from Port Talbot, South Wales, played edits of The Muppet Show and Darth Vader's theme last year before then-prime minister arrived for . After the not guilty verdict at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Monday, Mr Bray looked at his supporters in the public gallery, one of whom gave him a thumbs up. The court heard police approached Mr Bray on the traffic island at around 11.20am on 20 March 2024, minutes before Mr Sunak arrived. Officers handed him a map and a notice that warned he is prohibited from playing the speakers in the controlled area under a by-law. The music resumed intermittently and shortly after 12.30pm, officers seized the speakers, his trial at City Of London Magistrates' Court had earlier been told. Mr Bray, who represented himself, denied the charge and told a previous hearing that playing music was part of his "fundamental right to protest" and it was played "sporadically" rather than all day. He was found not guilty of failing without reasonable excuse to comply with a direction given under the Police Reform And Social Responsibility Act 2011. 'Lampooning the government is a long tradition' Deputy District Judge Anthony Woodcock said of Mr Bray: "He admitted that he is 'anti-Tory', which is his words. "He believes his is an important message to disseminate. He needs the volume that he uses to get the message across from Parliament Street to the Palace Of Westminster. "How he chooses to express those views is a matter for him. "Lampooning the government through satire is a long tradition in this country." The Muppets and Darth Vader themes were used "as the prime minister came in, which is what we always did for Rishi - apparently he's a Star Wars fan", Mr Bray had previously told the court. Read more from Sky News: Several witnesses described to the court the negative impact of Mr Bray's music, heard as high as the sixth floor in nearby buildings, after which the defendant apologised. Mr Bray is known for playing music in protest around Westminster. The music included D:Ream's when Mr Sunak announced the general election in the rain last May.
