Labour Party Conference Polling – Sept 2021

Polling amongst UK adults ahead of the 2021 Labour Party Conference.

Two in five UK adults say the party having a ‘broader vision, rather than specific policies’ would improve their chances at the next general election (42%)
This rises to almost half of 2019 Labour voters (46%) who say the same
Two in five Labour voters say an electoral pact with each of the Greens (42%) or Lib Dems (41%) would improve Labour’s chances at the next election
Amongst UK adults overall, a third say the Labour party too left-wing (32%), rising to 35% of C2DE adults and over half 2019 Con voters (53%)
Equal proportions of Labour voters say the party is currently too left-wing (20%) or too right-wing (22%). Two in five say its ‘about right’ (43%)

New polling by Savanta ComRes ahead of the Labour Party conference shows the party having a ‘broader vision, rather than specific policies’ (42%) was the most likely option chosen by UK adults to improve Labour’s chances at the next election.

UK adults were also almost twice as likely to say that electoral pacts with the Green Party (32% vs 16%) or Liberal Democrats (31% vs 18%) in key seats would improve Labour’s chances rather than worsen them.

And, these three proposals are even more popular amongst Labours voters, with 46% of 2019 Lab voters saying that a ‘broader vision, rather than specific policies’ would improve their chances at the next election, and two in five saying the same of either a pact with the Greens (42%) or Liberal Democrats (41%).

Two in five of both the UK public as a whole (41%) and 2019 Lab voters (42%) say that replacing Sir Keir Starmer as the leader of the party with Tony Blair would worsen Labour’s chances at the next election.

A quarter of Labour voters think that replacing Starmer with Blair would improve their chances (25%), while just over one in five say it would make no difference (22%).

While 30% of UK adults say the Labour Party is ‘about right’ on the political spectrum, a third say it is too left-wing (32%). Just 16% say it’s too right-wing.

Parties and the political spectrum

The proportion who say that the Labour Party is too left-wing rises to 35% of C2DE adults, two in five of those in the South-East (38%), and over half 2019 Con voters (53%).

Unsurprisingly, those aged 55+ are the most likely age group to say that the Labour Party is too left-wing (40%), although a quarter of 18-34-year-olds also say this (26%).

2019 Labour voters, however, paint a more divided picture. Equal proportions say that the party is too left-wing (20%) or too right-wing (22%), with over two in five saying the party is ‘about right’ (43%)

Treatment by the media

Two in five Labour voters say that the party is treated unfairly by the media (38%), falling to just three in ten of UK adults overall who say the same (28%).

Despite this, both Labour voters (22%) and UK adults (24%) are less likely to say that the Conservatives are treated unfairly by the media.

Perhaps most surprisingly, those aged 18-24 are the most likely age group to say that the Conservatives are treated unfairly by the media (34%), compared to 28% of those aged 25-34, 25% of those aged 35-54, and 19% of 55+

Commenting on the findings, Chris Hopkins, Political Research Director at Savanta ComRes, says,

“With the Labour Party struggling to cut through in Voting Intention polling despite favourability ratings for Boris Johnson and his Government consistently in minus figures, the attention is increasingly turning to Keir Starmer and whether he really is the man to transform Labour’s fortunes.

And, while a plurality of Labour voters think that the party is ‘about right’ on the political spectrum, the fact that one in five of their voters believe that the party is each of too left-wing or too right-wing shows just why the party is struggling to make gains in vote share.

Starmer has made it clear that his planned transformation of the Labour Party into a force capable of winning an election will take time, and many feel this lies behind his perceived fence-sitting as he tries to re-establish harmony in the midst of persistent factional spats. However, what may worry the LOTO ahead of his Party’s conference is the degree to which both UK adults overall and Labour’s own voters see drastic measures, which he has himself ruled out, as capable of improving their chances of victory at the ballot box.

Certainly, when over two in five of your own voters view a broad vision instead of specific policies or electoral pacts with either the Greens or Lib Dems as ways to improve electoral chances, it will come as something of a slap in the face to a leader who has reportedly announced 200+ policies in the last 18 months and ruled out electoral pacts under any circumstance.

Although a minor victory in the grand scheme of things, Starmer may take comfort in the fact that any murmurs of a return to politics for Tony Blair would do little to appease Labour voters and that, in fact, most would view his return in place of Starmer as a detriment to their chances at the next election.”

Date Published: 25/09/2021

Categories: Politics | Public and communities | UK

Client: Savanta ComRes

Methodology

Savanta ComRes interviewed 2,112 UK adults aged 18+ online from Sept 17-19 September 2021. Data were weighted by age, sex, region and SEG. Savanta ComRes is a member of the British Polling Council and abides by its rules.