Is a more left Labour government what people want?

[punkhairbrush]

I keep hearing statement after statement from Labour MPs and Rayner saying they essentially want a more left version of the Labour Party. From my understanding the majority of the public are fed up with work not paying and whether we like it or not, nothing being done about the welfare state and also illegal immigrants. Surely a more left approach isn’t going to solve either of these issues and will just cause Labour to be even less popular than they are now. Or have I got it all wrong?

26%

and it's a local election, which are always a bit batshit and very rarely reflect what the electorate does in National elections.

You’ve got it all wrong.

If you think this is as far right as possible you've clearly bought into the hysteria.

Well Farage has already shown he will be just like Trump lining his own pockets and those of his mates like the Harbournes of this world

This is it.

We have an aging population, and most economic challenges have a global component.

Voters dont want more immigration, but want to maintain high public spending (particularly on pensions).

People are drawing lines in the sand, and screaming for "solutions" that would only exacerbate the problems.

Labour dont have the answers, but are trying to plug holes in the ship. The more extreme parties - Reform and the Greens - either want to blow more holes in it, or just wish things better.

Who is more far right than reform that you could have voted for?

My point is, if labour go more “left” how are they going to appease all those in favour of the right? Surely the centre ground is all labour can do to give them a chance of staying in power.

Most people probably want a decent fairly centre government

The centre ground is where they have been and - as much as I think its the sensible place to be - they are losing votes to the left and to the right.

Starmer has tried pandering more to the right, but it hasn't worked. Trying to claw back the left is the only viable course.

If it is hysteria to regard Holocaust deniers and people who think Nigerians should be melted down to fill potholes as far right, then yes I have bought into hysteria.🙄

@missmollygreenyes this exactly! Raynor’s statement was so left leaning and really perplexed me! It didn’t really feel like they were talking to the majority, instead it was like she suddenly felt a pang of guilt for not being left enough and decided to release a statement!

I'm not necessarily sure that "more left" or "more right" is what people are actually voting for (ah, I see someone else has made the same point while I was writing this), nor that the labels/identities themselves are especially helpful. As we can see, it's broadly about half and half of the country on one side or the other. However, what is deemed "right" and "left" at different times and by different people, even within the same parties, can vary massively. It can also vary by social class

I would say, as a poster above said, "competence" is a key ask at the moment. Most people want a degree of stability and less infighting of whoever's in government. Higher standards from politicians across the board. To be able to TRUST that politicians will deliver to the electorate what they say they can. We just don't have that from anyone right now.

But also:

Policies that deliver reality and evidence-based, tangible, measurable improvements & changes for people on the ground. And not just for middle class or wealthy people (of the left or right).

For the average working citizen to have any of their concerns, both local and national, listened to and taken seriously, problems identified and reasons for them examined and dealt with intelligently, robustly, fairly with solutions offered that actually work for the largest number of people.

A working infrastructure

A sense that fairness and justice is being delivered. (what people mean by that will differ, but that's what should be up for debate)

Secure, safe housing & being able to have a decent standard of living

Making better use of our resources (eg our home-grown crops) with less reliance on other countries for what we could provide ourselves

A fair system of welfare (I don't believe in punishing those at the bottom or assuming everyone's a "scrounger" - but nor do I believe that the welfare system should be taken the piss out of.)

A working system of healthcare that delivers for the majority of people

And yes, to be able to have a sense of pride in our country and to have high hopes for our future going forward. (So this doesn't necessarily just refer to a rigid idea of 'patriotism' or harking back to the supposed past). We need to be a Britain for the future.

I do, but I'm not most people I don't think. I don't hold same the views as most people seem to on benefits and immigration.

Restore Britain is even more right wing than Reform.

@PomplaMouseinteresting viewpoint! I see it totally differently. I see Labour was trying to be quite centrist and the back benchers shot them down at every opportunity. I would hazard a guess that the majority of people that are pissed off and disillusioned are middle earners (not those in receipt of UC and not high earners) maybe if they help out small businesses instead of crippling them,
help out first time buyers and help kick start the property market, the economy might grow! Whilst it’s really admirable to scrap the two child benefit cap, this has been a divisive issue. People are pissed off with not having anything at the end of the month, despite working their backsides off! Small businesses are closing and won’t employ people with the minimum wage change! All a bit of a mess really as they aren’t helping working people, they are helping the barely working people! With this strategy, the majority have sadly turned to reform as they naively think getting rid of illegal immigrants woll suddenly kickstart the economy. Sadly a bunch of far right racists isn’t it, but unless Labour really start listening to these people and helping them then sadly that is the way the country is going.

Personally, I have always wavered around the centre. I could cope with some movement right or left if the prevailing government made sensible decisions and stuck to them. The referendum on the EU was not sensible. Nor was appointing Mandelson, to name but an example each. There are many more.

What I want is a leader who leads. I don't need to agree with all the decisions, I do need to feel like there is a backbone and not a wishbone.

Of course, it would be useful if the electorate understood that Rome wasn't built in a day, and did some research into the policies and history of those they were voting for, but the fact that they don't puts more onus on whoever is in the chair to articulate what they stand for, and what they can / cannot do much more effectively than we have seen in the last ten years or so.

On public spending.

Most of it is on pensions, and that spend is going to grow exponentially as our population continues to age. We need pension reform but even means testing of the winter fuel allowance was so unpopular, Labour felt forced to backtrack.

Then, there's PIP and alike. The UK has extremely high levels of health benefit claims compared to other countries, in a manner that is completely unsustainable - Starmer wanted to cut that, but his party rebelled.

Honestly, he probably had the right ideas, but they are extremely bitter pills to swallow, and he doesn't have the skill to sell them - and whichever government does finally tackle these issues (and the longer they persist, the more dramatic the remedy will need to be) will likely meet a similar fate.

Sadly, the social media age means simple-minded, rage-bait politics is what sells.

Yes but they weren’t eligible for votes in all areas. The movement was to vote “as far right as possible” by those wanting to prove a point to labour from the rights perspective.

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Quite a few yes posts. Whether it’ll help Labour at all is another thing.