What were Labour’s most damaging issues of 2024?
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Labour’s first seven months have been far from a honeymoon. 2024 was a historic year for Labour. Under Sir Keir Starmer the party came to power for the first time in over a decade in July, winning with a massive number of seats. It was a short election campaign, kicked off by rain-soaked former prime minister Rishi Sunak, which saw Labour storm to victory with the huge majority. Securing 411 seats, it was the largest for the party since the 1997 landslide under Tony Blair.
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Standing on the steps of Downing Street on 5 July, new prime minister Sir Keir said people had voted “for national renewal” and “a return of politics to public service.”. “You have given us a clear mandate,” he added, “and we will use it to deliver change, to restore service and respect to politics, end the era of noisy performance, tread more lightly on your lives, and unite our country.”.
But at the end of the year, things are looking a little more shaky for Sir Keir’s Labour party. The party has slumped to a new low in the opinion polls, new research from More in Common UK has revealed, standing to lose 200 seats if an election was held today.
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Luke Tryl, the think tank’s executive director said the research “confirms the fragmentation of British politics that we saw in July’s election has only accelerated in Labour’s six months in office.”. He adds: “There is no doubt that many voters have found the start of the Starmer Government disappointing and Labour’s estimated vote share would drop significantly were there to be an election tomorrow.”.
![[Outspoken Wetherspoons boss Tim Martin has been critical of Labour’s Budget (Dominic Lipinski/PA)]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2024/08/29/06/9ebdd829b3543c53209181730f08d6e3Y29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNzI0OTk2MDAw-2.56083224.jpg)
