Skip to main content
NEU job vacancy
Starmer Labour's electoral Achilles heel
General secretary ROBERT GRIFFITHS delivered the main political report to last weekend's Communist Party executive committee meeting. This is an edited copy of his report
UNINSPIRING: Keir Starmer speaks to supporters in Barnet, London after victory in local government elections

WHILE Tory losses in the local elections were bigger than expected, many millions of electors did not trust Labour with their protest vote against the cost-of-living crisis and “partygate” after Boris Johnson’s disastrous priorities during the Covid epidemic.

The Lib Dems and Greens were the biggest winners, but Labour under Keir Starmer’s lacklustre leadership failed to make headway across large parts of northern England, the Midlands and the south-west and Cornwall. Indeed, the Greens made more gains than Labour in England.

There were two key factors in Labour’s failure in much of England outside London and parts of the south.

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
Similar stories
Guillaume Périgois
Politics / 14 August 2025
14 August 2025

Starmer sabotaged Labour with his second referendum campaign, mobilising a liberal backlash that sincerely felt progressive ideals were at stake — but the EU was then and is now an entity Britain should have nothing to do with, explains NICK WRIGHT

A ballot box arriving during the count for the Blackpool South by-election at Blackpool Sports Centre, Blackpool, May 2, 2024
Features / 19 July 2025
19 July 2025

In the run-up to the Communist Party congress in November ROB GRIFFITHS outlines a few ideas regarding its participation in the elections of May 2026

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar during First Minister's Q
Features / 30 December 2024
30 December 2024
As polls show Scottish Labour’s support crumbling and Reform rising even among independence supporters, an urgent need emerges for an alternative based on public investment paid for by radical progressive taxation, argues VINCE MILLS