Labour drops behind Tories for first time since election ahead of make-or-break May vote
Labor has fallen behind the Conservatives in the polls for the first time since the general election, despite the party’s new year relaunch ahead of May’s make-or-break elections.
According to YouGov’s poll, Labor is just two points ahead of the Greens on 17 per cent and behind the Conservative Party on 19 per cent, while Nigel Farage’s Reform England is on 26 per cent. the Times.
According to the poll conducted on Sunday and Monday, the party is just one point ahead of the Liberal Democrats with 16 percent of the vote, while the Greens are ahead with 15 percent of the vote.
The timing is a blow to Keir Starmer, who tried to woo voters with a new campaign against the high cost of living in a lengthy television interview on Sunday morning.
However, in an indication of the difficulties facing his embattled government, as speculation grew over the Prime Minister’s future, he warned his rivals within the Labor Party not to move against him, saying it would “gift” the next general election to Mr Farage.
Labor faces potentially disastrous results in local, Scottish and Welsh elections in May.
At the end of October, leading pollster Professor Sir John Curtice warned that Labor was “in serious trouble in Wales” following the by-election loss of the traditional Labor seat of Caerphilly. Similar warnings have been made about the Holyrood elections and councils across England.
The poll will also make it harder for Sir Keir to win the support of increasingly disgruntled MPs who have forced the government to make a series of difficult U-turns, most recently on farmers’ inheritance tax before Christmas.
The poll was more good news for Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, signaling that her party had overtaken Labor for the first time since its crushing election defeat in 2024.
Sir Keir called for cabinet discipline at a meeting of his senior team, telling senior ministers their challenge for 2026 was to show that “hard work, focus and determination” would help squeezed households.
As Donald Trump’s US continues to threaten Greenland, Sir Keir said: “Yes, it is a world full of uncertainty and turmoil, but tackling the high cost of living must and must remain our focus.”
He added: “At the next general election we will be looking at whether we are delivering on the things that really matter: are people feeling better, are public services improving, are they looking to the NHS for that, and are people feeling safer and more secure in their communities.”
“These are the issues we will be considering in the next general election, that is our focus.
“This will require hard work, focus and determination from all of us.
“Together, as a team, we will overcome this challenge and achieve success for the entire country.”
