Poll indicates Labour’s rising fortunes under Burnham
The number of voters who think Labour will win the next election has almost doubled in a year, according to a new poll that will come as a welcome boost to Andy Burnham after his first 100 days in office, reports BritPanorama.
The More in Common survey found 42 per cent of the public believe Mr Burnham’s party will be victorious, up from just 23 per cent last summer.
At that stage, 58 per cent thought Labour was on course to lose the next election, a figure that has now fallen to 33 per cent.
Even among Reform voters, 26 per cent now believe Labour will be triumphant, an increase from 11 per cent.
Louis O’Geran, external affairs manager at More in Common, stated: “Just over a year ago, the idea of Labour winning the next election looked far-fetched to most Britons. Fewer than one in four thought it likely – remarkably low given Keir Starmer had won a historic majority just a year earlier. But in a sign of how much Burnham has shifted perceptions of the Labour government, that has now turned around.”
Polling expert, Tory peer Robert Hayward, commented: “The shift between last year and this year is a combination of two factors. One is the demise of Keir Starmer as prime minister and the other one is a positive view amongst Labour voters towards Andy Burnham. The question is whether that positive view lasts through the Budget. How does it rest in five to seven days’ time?”
The poll also indicated that 72 per cent of Labour’s 2024 voters believe the party will win the next election, which must be held by 2029, alongside 54 per cent of Liberal Democratic voters and 39 per cent of Conservative voters.
Labour has now overtaken Reform, which is even third in some surveys, behind the Tories. The poll also suggested that the PM’s decision to float rejoining the EU could help him win over the coalition that gave Labour a landslide 167-seat majority in Parliament in 2024.
Overall, Britons believe the move reflects well on Mr Burnham, by 45 to 27 per cent, with that figure rising to 71 per cent of Labour voters in 2024.
On Tuesday, longtime Labour MP Diane Abbott called on the PM to consider an early election if the Budget goes well, stating, “because it’s not going to get any better than this.”
However, Mr Burnham ruled out calling a general election in the next 12 months amid ongoing speculation that he could seek to consolidate his position, stating he was thinking “about people” and not “my own party and its prospects.”
This shift in public sentiment underscores the fluidity of electoral politics in the UK, particularly in the face of changing leadership dynamics.
