Is there anyone on here who voted Labour who is genuinely happy with how things are going

I didn't vote Labour thankfully.
Now all this shit show can be laid at the feet who did vote them on

It makes me laugh that people think the damage was done over 14 years, from 2010 to 2024. The damage began accruing from 1979. Where we're at now is because of nigh on 50 years of neoliberal bollocks, and this government has no intention of changing the direction of travel. It's status quo all the way with a little tinkering around the edges to give the illusion of doing it differently. Like Blair's wasted 13 years before them, they will do nothing of substance. The middle class are going to be hollowed out now because there is no other group left to tax. It's mismanagement on an epic scale. They teach modules on what went wrong for Britain in European universities. Fucking shameful.

I voted Labour. Am I genuinely happy with how things are going? - in the main No, but I was even less happy with how things were going before, so it is all relative.

I am disappointed that they are insufficiently radical. They have brought back a Sure Start equivalent and that is good, but .......

• they are not spelling out how having a welfare state demands an income and that has to be through tax in the final analysis
• they are not being clear about NHS reform
• they are ducking the issue of social care and the interface with health, like every government before them
• they are toeing the line of economic growth above all else whilst ignoring that this can only be achieved by investment in people so that they are in a position to spend money - and this through education and training reforms.
• they are not being brave enough in spelling out that reform and results take time - they are trying to find ways of appeasing the electorate rather than telling it how it is.

But I do think that Starmer has reinvigorated our standing on the international stage by coming across as a serious person rather than a buffoon.

This.

So, even after brexit, the truss budget, covid corruption, Johnson illegally proroguing parliament and lying to the Queen, failed austerity, the joke that is hs2, the failed privatisation of the probation service etc

You're going to vote Tory? Are you quite sure you want that bunch of absolute charlatans in again?

What made you vote Labour this time instead of Conservative?

It’s astonishing the amount of people who voted Labour and are now shocked that they are a high tax, high welfare government? What else were you expecting?

I suppose we live in an age where people expect instant gratification.

I think it’s remarkable that most of us can acknowledge the last 10+ years has been a total shitshow, but some people expect it to be fixed within 5mins.

And also the workers in Timpson’s are also so friendly and knowledgeable.

@Iwishicouldflyhigh I will be voting Labour again as I understand it is going to take a lot longer to sort out the circus of shite left behind by the Tories. So many positive examples of what Labour have done since coming in and am looking forward to see more.

I expected them to make it worse and so far they seem to be living up to my expectations.

I am.

I voted labour. I'm not thrilled with them. Was hoping for some more radical changes, not this divisive tinkering. We need decisive change from a moderate party if we want to keep the far right out and Starmer is not delivering. However, we need some stability so would prefer government as is to see through the term.

The next local elections will be interesting. Votes are harder to ignore than polling.

I voted Labour and had high expectations for Starmer

They lack direction, the made easy choices at first and when they backed down there/changes direction was no apology. They are very disconnected from voters.

They are in a position to make some really radical changes in making this country more equal taxing extreme wealth to start with but they seem to scared to so this

they have very poor PR. Starmer has been very good at getting the party in order and pushing back the far left but he isn’t someone that connects with the public he is the one you want for negotiations but that isn’t enough to win elections

the announcements and then the leaks for the budget (again) was very poor

So pensioners and people who receive child benefit and other benefit claimants will all be happy with Labour? That is a rather broad assumption.

There is a lot of support for Reform amongst people on benefits, which rather disproves your statement.

He was right then.

I think they’re doing ok in difficult circumstances, anyone who thinks Reform will do better needs to give their head a wobble

"Genuinely happy" is probably a high bar for any party in government, but they're a massive improvement on what came before. Pleased about lifting benefit cap (600,000 kids out of poverty), breakfast clubs, minimum wage rises, more NHS appointments and more trade deals + apprenticeships. Don't like the rhetoric on immigration and some of the changes to asylum law. Country has been ground down by 15 years of austerity, Covid and impacte of war in Ukraine. We're poorer than Poland now and there's no magic wand to make things better. Happy to judge govt in the round on actual changes by end of this Parliament, rather than in comparison with imaginary utopias promised by populists (of left and right). Tories a total irrelevance at the moment too imho.

He predicted it right after the election.

The majority are unhappy though. Chris Mason even said to Starmer on the BBC after the budget “you and this govt are so unpopular” and Starmer hardly flinched, he knows it.

It’s clear the man is deeply compromised. That’s the only way to explain his ludicrously weak, anti‑prosperity approach to leading Britain.

I think they're doing ok. I voted Lib Dem but was happy Labour won, and I continue to be happy they're in charge and not the Tories.

The country was a mess - nothing worked, the NHS was sinking, Brexit was a huge mistake, Covid cost as much as a war, the Ukraine war has had a huge effect on the world economy. It felt like no-one was leading anymore, everything was just being left to rot - a legacy of Boris, and his careless attitude to life.

Labour are making good changes, but they desperately need to improve their communication/ PR/ media relationships, because everything is being filtered through an aggressively hostile right-leaning press. So instead of talking about how positive it is that renters can't be evicted for no reason, they talk about the problems of landlords. Instead of talking about raising children out of poverty, they frame it as benefit cheats sitting around doing nothing for taxpayers' money.

I think possibly Keir Starmer is too far removed from real, poor, desperate people to understand that they don't really care about doing the right thing, they just want their lives to improve. He doesn't come across well and unfortunately I think nowadays you do need someone with a bit of personality who can create media content which connects with people - Starmer would have been great pre-social media when he could have just given staid interviews and then vanished again. I do think he's a decent person but he needs vastly better PR or a personality transplant. Labour also very much needed to be absolutely squeaky clean with regards to freebies/taxes/house purchases etc, and they haven't been.

Anyone thinking Reform will improve things for anyone except the very rich is utterly mad. Reform will cut everything - public services will be fucked. They will make huge cuts, but they can't because everything is to the bone already, so it will just fuck everything. Look at how Reform councils are being run - it's a shitshow. Not to mention the increasing evidence of ties to Russia, dodgy dealings, allyship with Trump - no-one can possibly think they're decent people.

I hope Labour get either Wes Streeting or Andy Burnham in place well before the next election, and manage to turn the media conversation in their direction. I also hope Labour start being honest about how much we need to rejoin the single market and start the process of rejoining the EU, because without that we are utterly fucked.

I voted labour and thoroughly wish I hadn’t now