FlyTheNest

Sky'sGoneOut wrote: Thu Sep 04, 2025 11:09 am Thought Question Time might have been on tonight with the return of parliament but it's not back until the 18th.

“Health databases have been something of a shared obsession between Blair and Ellison. While UK prime minister, the former attended a notorious Downing Street seminar on Monday 18 February 2002 at which Microsoft pitched the idea of a mega tech programme for the NHS, which became the £12 billion National Programme for IT. It was a disaster which was stopped early in 2011 and “did not deliver key benefits,” according to spending watchdog the National Audit Office…”

Sky'sGoneOut wrote: Thu Sep 04, 2025 1:15 pm These are the scum Starmer is appeasing.

Labour’s collapse in support since the 2024 General Election has been remarkable. Support for Labour has fallen more sharply after this election than it has for any other winning party covered by the BESIP. It’s still early in their term, and much could change, but these shifts are important because Labour’s large majority rests on historically narrow margins. Even small shifts in popularity could have major consequences at the next General Election.

Labour’s biggest losses have been to indecision. Over 1 in 5 of 2024 Labour voters now say that they either would not vote or that they don’t know which party they would vote for. This is noteworthy because many headline polls only show vote intentions for respondents who pick between the parties.

Labour have lost a further 27% of their support to rival political parties, with other left-liberal parties being the main beneficiaries (9% to the Liberal Democrats, 8% to the Greens, and smaller amounts elsewhere).

Labour have lost some support to Reform UK (8% of their 2024 electoral coalition), but the growth in support for Nigel Farage’s party has come mainly from other sources: 42% of Reform’s new supporters come from the Conservatives and 33% were non-voters in 2024, compared to only 16% who voted for Labour.

Labour faces more direct competition from the Liberal Democrats and Greens than it does Reform – at least in terms of maintaining its 2024 voter base. This is also true when it comes to winning back undecided voters, who are substantially more supportive of the Liberal Democrats and Greens than they are Reform or the Conservatives.

Labour’s losses are not spread evenly across the political spectrum. Figure 4 plots voting intentions by views on the four policy areas that have, so far, defined Labour’s time in office: immigration, welfare, national security, and taxation. In office, Labour’s leadership has shifted toward a tougher stance on immigration and welfare, raised defence spending, and (so far) not raised income tax rates. However, this strategy has placed the party at odds with most of its 2024 supporters. The greatest number of supporters lost are those who want more spending, oppose welfare cuts, and are (relatively) moderate on immigration, which represents the core of Labour’s 2024 voter base.

At the same time, this strategy has not helped Labour retain – or, indeed, win over – people that support their policies. Instead, rates of defection from Labour are highest among those who strongly oppose immigration and higher taxes. These losses are limited in number, given so few of (those?) people voted for Labour in 2024, but they underline the fact that Labour’s strategy has not succeeded on its own terms.

In short, Labour’s post-election slump is significant. Though Reform has taken Labour’s place at the top of the polls, it is not the case that the two parties are simply trading voters. Reform’s rise has for the most part come from the Conservatives and non-voters, whereas Labour’s support has splintered between indecision and other left-liberal parties. Labour’s efforts to attract support on the right have brought little reward and have potentially alienated much of their base (who make up most of Labour’s losses).