If the Prime Minister hoped people would forget about his Government’s treatment of pensioners he will be dismayed
The latest polling signals Labour is defined by the PM and Chancellor’s most controversial decisions (Image: Getty)
Dire new polling exposes how Labour’s reputation has been damaged by the shock decision to end universal entitlement to winter fuel support. When voters were asked to name anything Labour had done since Sir Keir Starmer took office last year, the hugely controversial decision to means-test the benefit was the one which stuck in the memory of the most respondents (24%).
This was followed by failing to stop small boat crossings (12%) and increasing National Insurance contributions (10%). The polling commissioned by Conservative peer Lord Ashcroft will hike pressure on Sir Keir Starmer ahead of his conference speech in Liverpool next week.
A Labour MP who wanted to remain anonymous described the harm which the decision to means-test the universal winter allowance had done.
He said: “I really think the problem he’s got – and what’s fatal for him – is unfortunately we are framed by the very first thing he did, which was the winter fuel payment [means-testing]. The problem is both Keir and Rachel are wired into that.”
The MP said this decision and the hike in the National Insurance were “self-inflicted wounds” which had left Sir Keir’s premiership in a “death spiral”.
The Government u-turned in June so pensioners with an income of £35,000 or under will receive winter fuel support, but the polling shows the early decision has stuck in the mind of the electorate.
Predicting that new Labour MPs will press for the change of leader after a major series of elections next year, the MP said: “I do think when the newbies start feeling their feet to the fire after May when we lose council seats and we lose the [Welsh Parliament] and we don’t do very well in the Scottish Parliament, I think the pressure for him to go will be huge then.”
Rachel Reeves survived the reshuffle but the autumn Budget will be a major test (Image: Getty)
The polling provided a crumb of comfort for Sir Keir which suggests people may vote for Labour because they are unimpressed with alternative candidates for prime minister.
When whether Sir Keir or the Conservatives’ Kemi Badenoch would make the better leader, 30% opted for the Labour prime minister and 23% named the Leader of the Opposition, with the remainder undecided. And when asked to choose between Sir Keir and Nigel Farage, 39% picked the PM and 39% chose the Reform UK leader.
