Starmer’s failure to demonstrate strong values ‘driving away progressive voters’
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/may/07/keir-starmer-driving-away-progressive-voters-labour
Posted by Desperate-Drawer-572
Starmer’s failure to demonstrate strong values ‘driving away progressive voters’
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/may/07/keir-starmer-driving-away-progressive-voters-labour
Posted by Desperate-Drawer-572
29 Comments
rinse and repeat ad nauseum click click. It works on me though because every time i see this same tired shit from the graunibad i feel the need to reply with ” oh just fuck OFF.”
He pushed away progressive voters by not having any progressive policies during the 2k24 June election CAMPAIGN .
‘Greenberg’s findings suggested the next election would be won by those who can unite left and right “blocs” of voters. ‘
So the way to win an election is to get the entire political spectrum to support you?
Incredible if true.
He drove people away when it became patently obvious the current Labour government is perfectly fine with the status quo and offers very little different to what the conservatives promised. That their issues weren’t with conservative policy but their lack of competency carrying out their plans.
Sure I prefer Keir Starmer over the last several batches of conservative governments. But it’s hardly inspiring or makes people happy about the state of the country. Cost of living issues? Nah let’s just focus entirely on immigration, banning porn and trans people in sports I guess.
Keir should have just not u-turned on anything, he’d still be as unpopular as he is now but at least he’d have something to show for it by the end of his term
EDIT: spelling
Ah hang on, thats a load of stinky codshite. He’s shown he has courage and value and will stick to them, see the Iran War, Trump. EU. etc.
Oh, he’s demonstrated strong values, for sure. They just aren’t progressive ones.
Well, duh. Baffles me how labour could think otherwise.
Let’s think of a few examples, throwing trans people under the bus in a failed attempt to court the bigot vote, selling off our data to Palantir and god knows who else to benefit billionaires and pave the way to turning healthcare into the US model, failing to do anything to address the need to move away from dependency on the US for our security, have I missed anything? Sure I have, but you get the idea.
It’s no wonder the Greens are benefiting from that, and labours response is to call their Jewish leader anti Semitic. While ignoring Farage trousering millions because apparently that’s perfectly normal these days.
Fair play though, at least he managed to avoid joining Operation Epstein Fury so he’s not all bad.
It’s funny, because one of my issues with him that he has been able to demonstrate some strong values – it’s just that the values he’s demonstrating strongly are transphobia and support for genocide.
Labour did NOT get elected on the backs of progressive voters. They got elected by people in the middle, independents/swing voters whatever you want to call them who were betrayed by Conservatives.
They lost those voters AND they’re losing progressive voters but even if progressives come back it doesn’t matter. It’s not enough of a base to get elected.. you need to appeal to normal people in the middle too and they haven’t done enough there.
He did say ‘the door is open and you can leave’ to progressive voters. He simply doesn’t want me 😔
Him and his cronies making life miserable for disabled people drove me away.
He supports the Isreal government and openly said on radio that it was acceptable to cut off food and power to civilians after October 7th. He is part of the Zionist support and as such is unfit to lead in my opinion. Labour overall I have no major issue with, nor with support for Jews in the UK, but I unsurprisingly draw the line at voicing the support for civilian suffering and death.
I think this is probably his main issue. You can get away with lying in politics, but if you make your identity being the guy who is honourable and has a moral code it really doesn’t look great when you lie constantly and look like you’re more focused on your own political future than good governance.
He had strong values for the 2020 leadership election. It’s just he and McSweeney never had any intentions of delivering them.
He has shown his strong values, it just seems like he is only prepared to have strong values on supporting a genocide.
The lies are probably more significant though, people do remember the things he pledged.
Next election will result in a Tory and Reform coalition thanks to Labour throwing away opportunities for easy wins one after another. Workers Rights and Milliband’s work on energy are really positive but the rest is an incoherent mess.
What happens when strong values butt up against the reality of running a country? I guess we will see when our clown electorate hand the keys of number 10 to the populists.
Starmer’s trying to be all things to all men. That was never going to work. I literally have no idea what he stands for.
Using American political terminology, Starmer is absolutely a LINO.
He insisted it was a ‘moral imperative’ to financially cripple sick and disabled people.
Then he had a little sulk when this was tempered slightly to only fuck new claimants.
If you fall I’ll tomorrow and end up unable to work you’ll get £642 per month.
In 2010 you would have received £711.
Accounting for inflation that would now be £1120, so this is an effective cut of £477, 43%.
Probably should have thought about this before the genocide.
literally told people not to vote for him if they’re left wing so yeah that sounds about right
The issue with this “expert” analysis is that the perfect centre doesn’t exist and never has. In practice it’s always been used as an excuse to walk goalposts of progressive ideas backwards to “strike a compromise” with an imaginary strawman who wants those things to happen but not as much.
Also those who actually are in the centre politically are also almost entirely depoliticised hence why we only ever seem to get policy implemented that fits within the world views of the terminally old who will show up in numbers not seen since minas tirith to ensure their children and grandchildren are robbed of a future so they can continue to have their status quo.
Also this current Labour government is exactly what they’re proposing and it’s not a success for exactly the reason they outline. It’s impossible to maintain the status quo and placate left and right without being obviously compromised ideologically.
Yeh despite the desperate smear campaigns I’ll be voting Green for some actual people first policies 💚
I definitely feel Labour is losing a lot of votes from people who care deeply about inequality and wealth taxes… Working for a living has been getting harder and harder, while people who simply own lots of assets have been rolling in it.
It would only be fair to tax those who are enjoying an unprecedented windfall in stocks, property, land values, commodities more and to give people who work for a living a tax break, it’s also arguably essential if they want the ever Illusive growth.
But, Labour have pandered to the rich too much. I don’t know why, seems like a moronic political strategy and it’s very clear it isn’t working. But, I Labour members are just a bit dense.
All the casual Labour voters I know are now saying Labour are as bad as the Tories and voting Green or Plaid or similar. Labour are just another version of the failed status quo.
You can’t have strong progressive values and win elections. You need to be all things to all men.
I’m a leftie and I begrudgingly voted Labour in the last GE.
I think there are people like me don’t feel entirely sold on Green or Labour, and its more voting as a compromise or for the least-worst option. There’s little conviction or hope in it.
And I can’t help but notice the opposite in right wing voters. They are Reform wholeheartedly, and I think today is sadly going to prove a washout for the more progressive parties.