Show Notes
In the aftermath of last week's local elections, Sam Freedman and Ayesha Hazarika, together with author and Political Science Professor Rob Ford, look at what the results might mean for a future Labour government on this week's episode of The Power Test podcast.
Under the surface of a very good set of elections for the party, and another very bad few days for the Tories, Ford, who was part of the BBC's elections analysis team, suggests however there are a few trends that may give an early warning to some of the challenges the party may face in power. In particular, the willingness of the left to be "much less partisan and back other options" such as the Green Party which now has a "serious and credible base in local government - having quadrupled the number of councillors they have in the last five years".
Sam warns that the party may therefore find itself squeezed in the middle - between a more centrist leadership trying to play to Red Wall voters, and others at the same time trying to defend from a rising left flank.
"If I'm a Labour MP in Hastings or Stroud or places like that where the Greens are coming on very strong and I'm in a Labour government that is being tough on benefits because that's what the newspapers want us to do, and not spending money, I'm going to start getting nervous pretty quickly that I'm going to lose my voter base." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
More from No Sacred Cows
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As voters splinter between Reform, the Greens and an increasingly volatile centre ground, this week we examine what a winning centre-left politics might look like in an age where trust is collapsing, loyalties are weakening and delivery matters more than ever. If Labour wants a second term, our new Prime Minister, his team and the cabinet will have to stop the assumption that yesterday’s political truths will still work tomorrow.
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