Labour needs complete ‘reset’ to defeat Reform UK threat, says strategist | Labour

Sir Chris Powell, New Labour’s former advertising strategist, has warned Keir Starmer does not have an adequate plan to defeat the “existential threat” populism poses to UK democracy and must undertake a “fundamental reset”.

Powell, the brother of Starmer’s national security adviser Jonathan Powell, warned there was only three years to stop the “new and terrible threat” from populists and suggested the UK Reform could pose a danger to democracy and national institutions.

Writing for the Guardian, he said: “Here in the UK, where is the large-scale counter plan urgently needed to thwart and fend off such an existential threat? It is not fully in place and does not even appear to be in the planning stages.”

“We are in a very dangerous time. We cannot allow Reform UK to operate freely and become entrenched and entrenched as a credible potential government in the minds of disappointed voters.

“The more unchallenged these are, the more threatening and risk-free they will appear to voters. I hope the UK Reform and [Nigel] “Farage’s outburst, or any fragmentation of the right-wing vote, is potentially suicidal for our freedom and democracy.”

His intervention comes at a time when Starmer faces deep unhappiness within his own party over Labour’s poor poll results and his own personal unpopularity, with Reform leading the polls for almost a year.

The Prime Minister will launch a new initiative to cut living costs with cuts to energy bills, interest rates and an end to the two-child limit, saying voters’ lives will start to improve in 2026.

With Farage and Reform dominating social media, No 10 plans to overhaul its communications strategy to reach more voters in new ways; for example, through influencers and viral videos on channels including TikTok.

A Labor source said the government was “tackling issues exploited by populists, particularly the cost of living”, adding: “The Prime Minister has repeatedly called out the divisive policies peddled by Reform and will continue to work with grassroots activists and others to win this fight.”

But Powell, who runs the advertising agency that worked on Labor’s victory in 1997, said social media engagement had so far been “small-scale” and argued that “the narrative surrounding this government is mostly about its own failures and infighting rather than the battle it faces against a populist surge.”

As part of his project Winning Against the Populists with data and consumer research consultancy David Cowan, Powell said Starmer’s party must “wage and win the daily battle for attention” to ensure their voices are heard when voters swipe.

He also said Starmer needed to better engage with voters on the issues they care about, highlighting how a Democratic governor in the US won in a Republican state by “talking non-stop in plain language about bread-and-butter issues like jobs, roads, schools, prices.”

Recalling that Tony Blair and his team gathered at his home for the first election planning meeting in 1995, Powell said that Starmer and the Labor Party similarly needed “a new strategy, new branding, new policy, new presentation, new organization… this kind of borderless thinking is needed. A fundamental reset.”

Powell said the current situation in Britain was “a textbook case of the establishment party caught in the headlights while its populist rival deftly fills the void of voters’ bitterness and disrespect”.

“Reliance on containment or a rational ‘hold your nose’ vote is a strategy that will ultimately fail. Labor needs a comprehensive action plan now. Time is a luxury they cannot afford,” he said.

Some in Downing Street believe that when voters have a choice between Starmer and Farage, those with progressive leanings will vote to keep Reform out – even if they have sympathies with other parties on the center or left. But many Labor MPs are deeply concerned that this is a complacent strategy that risks underestimating Farage and Reform.

This year’s local elections in Wales and Scotland, and in England, will be a test of how well the Reformation’s lead in the opinion polls will translate into seats; Starmer’s position will be potentially threatened if Labor suffers heavy losses.

The Guardian reported on Wednesday that Starmer will amplify his message with a series of new year drinks receptions for Labor MPs at Checkers in a bid to allay concerns about local and devolved elections in 2026, where the party expects heavy losses.

In his New Year’s message, the Prime Minister slammed the Reformation, saying: “We are getting Britain back on track. By staying on that path, we will defeat the decline and division that others have suggested.”