Watch: Starmer’s last-minute pitch to win voters back from Greens and Reform
Key Points
- As England heads to the polls for local elections, Starmer has made a last-minute attempt to win back voters.
- Labour is facing a historic loss as voters turn to the more disruptive policies offered by Reform and the Greens.
- Starmer said Labour is the party that is on the side of working people, pointing to the government's progress on NHS waiting lists and workers' rights.
As England heads to the polls to vote in Thursday’s local elections, Prime Minister Keir Starmer published a last-minute video in the morning aimed at winning back voters who have turned to the Green Party and Reform UK.
Labour is preparing for record-breaking losses in these local elections, as a result of Starmer’s popularity steadily dropping over his term.
While today’s elections will only affect local councils and not the national government, many will see the results as a poll on Starmer himself, and a poor result could spell an early end to the Prime Minister’s tenure as the Labour party seeks to shore up support with a more popular candidate.
Polls show that voters are not turning to the Conservatives as they have in the past. Instead, the two-party system that has prevailed for most of the history of British politics looks to be upended, with disgruntled voters poised to turn to populist fringes for more disruptive changes.
The biggest challenge to Labour in these elections, and possibly in the next general election, will come from Nigel Farage’s Reform and Zack Polanski’s Green party.
In a video published on Thursday morning, Starmer directly called out both Reform and the Greens, saying that Labour is on the side of everyday people and delivering better results for working people.
The Green Party’s messaging has focused on affordability and the cost of living, with the party backing redistributive policies aimed at addressing wealth inequality.
Reform’s campaigning in the local elections has focused strongly on immigration, with the party’s home affairs spokesperson Zia Yusuf pledging to prioritise opening new migrant detention centres in any constituency that votes Green if Reform wins the next general election.
Starmer pointed to the work Labour has done on reducing NHS waiting lists, supporting household bills, introducing employment reforms, and raising the minimum wage.
“Reform wouldn’t do any of this. Their priority would be to cut the NHS, to give tax breaks to billionaires and scrap new rights at work,” Starmer said.
“And the Greens, they’ve got the wrong answers. Blocking new homes and opposing the clean energy projects that we need.”
Watch the full video of the Prime Minister posted by the Labour Party on X below:
