Origins to 1890s , first leader of the Labour Party contingent in the House of Commons The origins of what became the Labour Party emerged in the late 19th century. It represented the interests of the labour unions and more generally the growing urban working class. Hundreds of thousands of workers had recently gained voting rights by laws passed in
1867 and 1884. Many different trade unions flourished in the industrial districts. Their leaders used the
Methodist revival tradition to find ways to rally the membership. Several small
socialist organisations formed and wanted power based on the
working class; the most influential was the
Fabian Society, which was made up of
middle class reformers.
Keir Hardie worked for cooperation among the unions and left-wing groups such as his small
Independent Labour Party (ILP).
Labour Representation Committee (1900–1906) The Labour Party was formed by unions and left-wing groups to create a distinct political voice for the working class in Britain. In 1900 the
Trades Union Congress (TUC), an umbrella body for most unions, sponsored a national conference to unite into a single party that would sponsor candidates for the House of Commons. The conference created the
Labour Representation Committee (LRC), as a coalition of separate groups with
Ramsay MacDonald as secretary. The fearsome issue for labour was the 1901
Taff Vale legal decision which made most strikes illegal; the urgent goal was to get Parliament to reverse it. The LRC cut a secret deal with the
Liberal Party: they would not compete against each other in the
1906 general election. Voters gave the Liberals a landslide with 397 seats out of 664; the new LRC won 29 seats. The LRC renamed itself "The Labour Party", with veteran MP Keir Hardie narrowly winning the role of leader of the
Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP).
Early years (1906–1923) The Labour Party's first national conference in Belfast in 1907 helped shape many of its key policies. Never fully resolved was the puzzle of where the final decisions ought to lie—in the annual conference? the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP)? The local chapters? The Trade Union Congress (which brought together the heads of most unions)? The conference created a "conscience clause" allowing diversity of opinions rather than a rigid orthodoxy. Irish politics proved to be so different that the Party simply quit Ireland and worked only in England, Scotland and Wales. In 1908–1910 the Party supported the momentous and largely successful Liberal battles in favour of a welfare state and against the Unionist/Conservative Party and against the veto power of the House of Lords. Growth continued, with 42 Labour MPs elected to the House of Commons in the December 1910 general election. During World War I, the party experienced internal divisions over support for the war effort, but also saw one of its top leaders
Arthur Henderson, serve in the powerful war cabinet. After the war, the party focused on building a strong constituency-based support network and adopted a comprehensive statement of policies titled "Labour and the New Social Order". In 1918,
Clause IV was added to Labour's constitution, committing the party to work towards common ownership of the means of production, distribution, and exchange. Socialism was vaguely promised, but there was no effort made to draw up detailed plans on what that would mean or how it could be accomplished. The
Representation of the People Act 1918 greatly expanded the electorate, enfranchising all men and most women. The party concentrated its appeal on the new electorate with considerable success among working men, but far less success among women. As the Liberal Party collapsed, Labour became the official opposition to the Conservative government. Its support for the war effort demonstrated that the Labour Party was a patriotic and moderate force that solved problems and did not threaten class warfare.
Labour forms a government (1923–1924) The
1923 election was a pivotal achievement with the formation of the first Labour government. The Conservatives called for high tariffs. Labour and Liberals both wanted free trade. Labour leader
Ramsay MacDonald formed a minority government with Liberal support that lasted 10 months. The only domestic achievement was the
Wheatley Housing Act, which expanded the large-scale public housing program that started in 1919 with support from all three major parties. MacDonald was much more successful in foreign policy. He helped end the impasse over German payment of reparations by enlisting Washington to launch the Dawes Plan. Much more controversial was his decision to recognise the Soviet Union. That ignited an anti-Communist backlash that exploded four days before the 1924 election in the fake
Zinoviev Letter in which Kremlin supposedly called for revolutionary uprising by British workers.
The 1924 election saw the Conservatives return to power, benefiting from the Zinoviev letter and the continuing collapse of the Liberal vote. The Labour share of the popular vote went up, but it lost seats. Above all the moderation of the Macdonald government put to rest the lingering fears that a Labour victory would produce a violent class war.
The failed general strike (1926–1929) In 1925–26, coal sales fell and the mining companies demanded an increase in hours and a cut in wages. The miners were totally opposed and planned a strike. The TUC coalition of unions decided it would support the miners by a nationwide general strike that would paralyse most of the national economy. A strike was postponed when the Conservative government offered a subsidy for wages, but it also prepared to deal with the threatened general strike. Meanwhile, the TUC failed to make preparations. It ignored the Labour Party in and out of Parliament and in turn party leaders opposed a national strike. The
1926 general strike failed after 9 days as the government plan devised by Winston Churchill proved highly effective in keeping the economy open while minimising violence. In the long run, however, the episode tended to strengthen working class support for Labour, and it gained in the 1929 general election, forming a second government with Liberal help.
Second Labour Ministry in 1929 and failures in 1930s , first Labour prime minister (1924 and 1929–1931) Once again with Liberal help, MacDonald became prime minister following the successful
1929 election. There were some promising achievements in foreign policy, notably the
Young Plan that seemed to resolve the issue of German reparations, and the
London Naval Treaty of 1930 that limited submarine construction. Some minor legislation was passed, notably a
noncontroversial expansion of new public housing. Overnight in October 1929 the world economy plunged into the
Great Depression, and no party had an answer as tax revenue plunged, unemployment doubled to 2.5 million (in late 1930), prices fell, and government spending on unemployment benefits soared. Conditions became much worse in 1931 as the banks became unable to loan the government enough to cover the growing deficit. In an era before
Keynesian economics, the strong consensus among experts was for the government to balance its budget. Spending was cut again and again but MacDonald and his
Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Snowden argued that the only way to get an emergency loan from New York banks was to cut unemployment benefits by 10%. They pointed out that cost of food was down 15% and overall prices were down 10%. But in the cabinet most Labour members were vehemently opposed—they demanded new taxes on the rich instead. MacDonald gave up and on 23 August went to King
George V and resigned the government. Unexpectedly the monarch insisted that the only patriotic solution was for MacDonald to stay and form an all-party "national government" with the Conservatives, which he did the next day. The Labour Party felt betrayed and expelled MacDonald and Snowden. The new
National Government, 1931–1935 kept Macdonald and Snowden and two others, replacing the rest of the Laborites with Conservatives. The
1931 election took place on 27 October. Labour had 6.3 million votes (31 per cent), down from 8.0 million and 37 per cent in 1929. Nevertheless, it was reduced to a helpless minority of only 52 members, chiefly from coal mining districts. The old leadership was gone. One bright note came in 1934 when
Herbert Morrison led Labour to take control of the
London County Council for the first time ever. In the
1935 election, Labour recovered to 8.0 million votes (38 per cent), and
Clement Attlee became Minority Leader. The Party now had 154 seats but had minimal influence in Parliament. At the local level union leaders, led by
Ernest Bevin, successfully defeated Communist infiltration. In foreign policy a strong pacifist element made it slow to support the government's rearmament program. As the threat from
Nazi Germany escalated, the Party gradually abandoned its pacifist stance and came to support re-armament, largely due to the efforts of Bevin and
Hugh Dalton. By 1937 they had persuaded the Party to oppose
Neville Chamberlain's policy of
appeasement of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. However, as late as April 1939 the Party strongly opposed conscription for the Army.
Wartime coalition (1940–1945) The party returned to power in May 1940, with about a third of the seats in the
wartime coalition government under Churchill. Attlee was given a new position as
Deputy Prime Minister. He was in charge of the cabinet when Churchill was absent, and handled domestic affairs, working closely with Bevin as
Minister of Labour. The war set in motion profound demands for reform. This mood was epitomised in the
Beveridge Report of 1942, by the Liberal economist
William Beveridge. The
Report assumed that the maintenance of full employment would be the aim of post-war governments, and that this would provide the basis for the
welfare state. Immediately upon its release, it sold hundreds of thousands of copies. All major parties committed themselves to fulfilling this aim, but the Labour Party was seen by the electorate as the party most likely to follow it through.
Attlee government (1945–1951) , Prime Minister (1945–1951) With the victory in Europe, the coalition broke up in May 1945. The
1945 general election gave Labour a landslide victory, as they won 12 million votes (50% of the total) and 393 seats. The Labour government proved the most radical in British history. It presided over a policy of nationalising major industries and utilities including the
Bank of England, coal mining, the steel industry, electricity, gas and inland transport (including railways, road haulage and canals). It developed and implemented the "cradle to grave"
welfare state. It created the
National Health Service (NHS), which gave publicly funded medical treatment for all. Nationalisation primarily affected weak and poorly managed industries, opening the hope that centralised planning would reverse the decline. Iron and steel, however, were already well-run and nationalisation was denounced and later reversed by the Conservatives. The economy was precarious during the age of austerity, as wartime restrictions and rationing continued, and the wartime bombing damage was slowly being rebuilt at great cost. The Treasury depended heavily on American money, especially
the 1946 loan of $3.75 billion at a low 2% interest rate, and the gift of $2.694 billion in
Marshall Plan funds. Canada also provided gifts and $1.25 billion in loans. The government began the process of dismantling the
British Empire, starting with independence to India and Pakistan in 1947, followed by Burma (Myanmar) and Ceylon (Sri Lanka) the following year. It
relinquished its control over Palestine to the United Nations in 1948. Elsewhere independence movements were much weaker and London's policy was to keep the Empire in business. Under
Ernest Bevin's leadership, London pushed Washington into an anti-Communist coalition that launched the
Cold War in 1947 and established the
NATO military alliance against the USSR in 1949. Furthermore, independent of Washington London committed large sums to developing a secret
nuclear weapons programme. In the
1951 general election, Labour narrowly lost to Churchill's Conservatives, despite receiving the larger share of the popular vote. Its 13.9 million vote total was the highest ever. Most of its innovation were accepted by the Conservatives and Liberals and became part of the "
post-war consensus" that lasted until the Thatcher era of the 1980s.
Internal feuds (1951–1964) , Leader of the Opposition (1955–1963)|upright Labour spent 13 years in opposition. It suffered an ideological split, between the left-wing followers of
Aneurin Bevan (known as
Bevanites) and the right-wing following
Hugh Gaitskell (known as
Gaitskellites). The economy recovered as Conservatives hung together and chanted, "You Never Had It So Good.". The ageing Attlee contested the
general election in 1955, which saw Labour lose ground; he retired and was replaced by Gaitskell. Internal squabbling now focused on the issues of
nuclear disarmament, Britain's entry into the
European Economic Community (EEC), and
Clause IV of the Labour Party Constitution, with its commitment to nationalisation. Gaitskell led Labour to a third consecutive defeat at the
1959 general election despite the party appearing more united than it had been for some time. Gaitskell responded by attempting to remove Clause IV (the nationalisation clause) from the party constitution, but this was unsuccessful. Gaitskell died suddenly in 1963, and cleared the way for
Harold Wilson to lead the party.
Wilson as leader (1964–1974) , Prime Minister (1964–1970 and 1974–1976) A downturn in the economy and a series of scandals in the early 1960s had engulfed the Conservative government by 1963. The Labour Party returned to government with a 4-seat majority under Wilson in the
1964 general election but a landslide increased its majority to 96 in the
1966 general election. Labour was responsible for a number of sweeping social and cultural reforms mostly under the leadership of
Home Secretary Roy Jenkins such as the abolition of the
death penalty; the legalisation of
abortion; loosening restrictions on
homosexuality, the abolition of
theatre censorship, and legislation to
outlaw racial discrimination The government put heavy emphasis on expanding opportunities through education:
Comprehensive education was expanded at the secondary level and the
Open University created for adults. Wilson's first period as Prime Minister coincided with a period of relatively low unemployment and economic prosperity, it was however hindered by significant problems with a large trade deficit which it had inherited from the previous government. The first three years of the government were spent in an ultimately doomed attempt to stave off the continued devaluation of the pound. Labour went on to unexpectedly lose the
1970 general election to the Conservatives under
Edward Heath. Labour in opposition kept Wilson as Leader. The 1970s proved a difficult time to be in government for both the Conservatives and Labour due to the
1973 oil crisis, which caused high inflation and a global recession. The Labour Party was returned to power again under Wilson a few days after the
February 1974 general election, forming a minority government with the support of the
Ulster Unionists. In a bid to gain a majority, Prime Minister Wilson soon called an election for
October 1974. Labour won a slim majority of three, gaining 18 seats taking its total to 319.
Majority to minority (1974–1979) , Prime Minister (1976–1979) In March 1974 Wilson was appointed prime minister
for a second time; he called a
snap election in October 1974, which gave Labour a small majority. During his second tenure as prime minister, Wilson oversaw the
referendum that confirmed the UK's membership of the
European Communities. When Wilson suddenly announced his retirement in March 1976, Callaghan
defeated five other candidates to be elected Leader of the Labour Party; he was appointed prime minister on 5 April 1976. By now Labour had lost its narrow majority. To stay in power Callaghan made a
confidence and supply agreement with the
Liberal Party. While this initially proved stable, it could not survive in the face of major industrial disputes and widespread strikes in the 1978–79 "
Winter of Discontent", as well as the defeat of the
referendum on devolution for Scotland. Minor parties joined the
Conservatives to pass a
motion of no-confidence in Callaghan on 28 March 1979. Callaghan led Labour to defeat at the
1979 election and was replaced by Conservative
Margaret Thatcher. The 1979 defeat marked the beginning of 18 years in opposition for the Labour Party, the longest in its history. According to historian
Kenneth O. Morgan, the fall of Callaghan meant the passing of an old obsolete system, as well as the end of
corporatism,
Keynesian spending programmes, subsidised welfare payments, and labour union power.
Thatcherism and Labour's civil war (1979–1992) , Leader of the Opposition (1980–1983)|upright and as the official logotype from 1980 to 1987|left Following 1979, the Labour Party found itself overwhelmed by the Conservative government led by hardliner
Margaret Thatcher. From the right, she largely rejected the
post-war consensus on economic and social policies that had bipartisan support since the 1950s. At first Thatcher's economic reforms were received poorly. Argentina's invasion of a British possession in the
Falklands War in Spring 1982 transformed British politics. Thatcher's aggressive reaction produced a quick victory and national elation, leading the Conservatives to a landslide victory in the
1983 general election. Thatcher's successful
attacks on labour unions in 1984–1985 further weakened the Labour base. It took a decade for Labour to recover. Labour's inward turn flared into a civil war between left and right. The party came under the control of left-wing activists in the local constituencies. The left was led by
Michael Foot and
Tony Benn. The 1983 election manifesto, entitled "The New Hope for Britain", called for extensive nationalisation of industry, with heavily centralised economic planning, and many additional controls on business. It demanded unilateral nuclear disarmament and withdrawal from the European Community. Labour's manifesto was a repudiation of the
post-war consensus from the left. The manifesto was ridiculed by political opponents as "
longest suicide note in history" and was alleged to have alienated moderate voters. Some prominent party centrists, led by a group of MPs dubbed the "
Gang of Four", quit the Labour Party to form the
Social Democratic Party, but it ultimately formed an
electoral pact with the Liberal Party rather than contest elections independently. After Labour's massive defeat in the
1983 general election,
Neil Kinnock replaced Foot. He defeated the left wing, reversed the controversial manifesto proposals, expelled radical factions like the Trotskyist
Militant tendency, and began a process of modernisation and acceptance of many Thatcherite reforms.
Modernisers take charge (1992–1997) , ensured that the red flag image would disappear, with the party's new symbol being the gentle emblem of the red rose. This was the party's logo from 1987 to 2007.|upright In November 1990, Thatcher resigned and was succeeded by the less confrontational Thatcherite
John Major. Opinion polls had shown Labour comfortably ahead of the Conservatives largely because of Thatcher's introduction of the highly unpopular
poll tax, combined with the fact that the economy was
sliding into recession. Major replaced the poll tax but Kinnock energised Labour with the theme "It's Time for a Change", after more than a decade of unbroken Conservative rule. The
1992 general election gave Conservatives a victory with a much-reduced majority of 21. It was a deeply disappointing result for Labour. For the first time in over 30 years there was serious doubt among the public and the media as to whether Labour could ever return to government. Kinnock resigned as leader and was succeeded by
John Smith. , Leader of the Opposition (1983–1992) The damage to the economy on
Black Wednesday in September 1992 undermined the Conservative reputation for superior economic competence. By December, Labour had a comfortable lead in the opinion polls. The recession ended in early 1993 and was followed by a sharp fall in unemployment, together with sustained economic growth. Nevertheless, the Labour lead in the polls remained strong. Smith died suddenly in May 1994, and
Tony Blair became leader. Once again the battle resumed between the old guard on the left and the younger "modernisers". The old guard argued that they were regaining strength under Smith's strong leadership. Blair, the leader of the modernisers, warned that the long-term weaknesses had to be reversed. He argued that the party was too locked into a base that was shrinking, since it was based on the working-class, on trade unions and on residents of subsidised council housing. Blair said that the rapidly growing middle class was largely ignored, as well as more ambitious working-class families. He argued that they aspired to become middle-class and accepted the Conservative argument that traditional Labour was holding ambitious people back with higher tax policies. To present a fresh face and new policies to the electorate,
New Labour needed more than fresh leaders; it had to jettison outdated policies, argued the modernisers. Calling on the slogan, "
One Member, One Vote" Blair defeated the union element and ended
block voting by leaders of labour unions. Blair and the modernisers called for radical adjustment of Party goals by repealing "Clause IV", the historic commitment to nationalisation of industry. This was achieved in 1995.
New Labour (1994–2010) Blair continued to move the party further to the centre, abandoning the largely symbolic
Clause Four at the 1995 mini-conference in a strategy to increase the party's appeal to "
middle England". The political philosophy of New Labour was influenced by the party's development of
Anthony Giddens'
Third Way which attempted to provide a synthesis between
capitalism and
socialism. , Prime Minister (1997–2007)
New Labour was first termed as an alternative branding for the Labour Party, dating from a conference slogan first used by the Labour Party in 1994, which was later seen in a draft manifesto published by the party in 1996, called
New Labour, New Life For Britain. It was a continuation of the trend that had begun under the leadership of
Neil Kinnock. New Labour as a name has no official status, but remains in common use to distinguish modernisers from those holding to more traditional positions, normally referred to as "Old Labour". The Labour Party won the
1997 general election in a landslide victory with a parliamentary majority of 179; it was the largest ever Labour majority, and at the time the largest swing to a political party achieved since
1945. Over the next decade, a wide range of progressive social reforms were enacted, with millions lifted out of poverty during Labour's time in office largely as a result of various tax and benefit reforms. Among the early acts of Blair's government were the establishment of the
national minimum wage, the
devolution of power to Scotland, Wales and
Northern Ireland, major changes to the regulation of the banking system and the re-creation of a citywide government body for London, the
Greater London Authority, with its own elected-
Mayor. Combined with a Conservative opposition that had yet to organise effectively under
William Hague, and the continuing popularity of Blair, Labour went on to win the
2001 election with a similar majority, dubbed the "quiet landslide" by the media. In 2003 Labour introduced
tax credits, government top-ups to the pay of low-wage workers. A perceived turning point was when Blair controversially allied himself with US President
George W. Bush in supporting the
Iraq War, which caused him to lose much of his political support. The
UN Secretary-General, among many, considered the war illegal and a violation of the
UN Charter. The Iraq War was deeply unpopular in most western countries, with Western governments divided in their support and under pressure from
worldwide popular protests. The decisions that led up to the Iraq war and its subsequent conduct were the subject of the
Iraq Inquiry. , Prime Minister (2007–2010)In the
2005 general election, Labour was re-elected for a third term, but with a reduced majority of 66 and popular vote of only 35.2%. Blair announced in September 2006 that he would step down as leader within the year, though he had been under pressure to quit earlier than May 2007 in order to get a new leader in place before the
May elections which were expected to be disastrous for Labour. In the event, the party did lose power in Scotland to a minority
Scottish National Party government at the
2007 elections and, shortly after this, Blair resigned as Prime Minister and was replaced by the
Chancellor,
Gordon Brown. Brown coordinated the UK's response to the
2008 financial crisis. Membership of the party also reached a low, falling to 156,205 by the end of 2009: over 40 per cent of the 405,000 peak reached in 1997, and thought to be the lowest total since the party was founded. In the
2010 general election on 6 May that year, Labour with 29.0% of the vote won the second largest number of seats (258). The Conservatives with 36.5% of the vote won the largest number of seats (307), but
no party had an overall majority, meaning that Labour could still remain in power if they managed to form a coalition with at least one smaller party. However, the Labour Party would have had to form a coalition with more than one other smaller party to gain an overall majority; anything less would result in a minority government. On 10 May 2010, after talks to form a coalition with the
Liberal Democrats broke down, Brown announced his intention to stand down as Leader before the Labour Party Conference but a day later resigned as both Prime Minister and party leader.
Opposition (2010–2024) , Leader of the Opposition (2010–2015)
Ed Miliband won the subsequent
leadership election. Miliband emphasised "responsible capitalism" and greater
state intervention to rebalance the economy away from
financial services. He advocated for more regulation of banks and energy companies and often addressed the need to challenge vested interests and increase inclusivity in British society. He adopted the "
One Nation Labour" branding in 2012. The
Parliamentary Labour Party voted to abolish
Shadow Cabinet elections in 2011, ratified by the National Executive Committee and Party Conference. Henceforth the leader of the party chose the
Shadow Cabinet members. In March 2014, the party reformed internal election procedures, including replacing the
electoral college system with "
one member, one vote". Mass membership was encouraged by creating a class of "registered supporters" as an alternative to full membership.
Trade union members would also have to explicitly opt in rather than opt out of paying a political levy to the party. In September 2014, Labour outlined plans to cut the government's
current account deficit and balance the budget by 2020, excluding investment. The party carried these plans into the
2015 general election, which Labour lost. Its representation fell to 232 seats in the House of Commons. The party lost 40 of its 41 seats in Scotland to the
Scottish National Party. , Leader of the Opposition (2015–2020) After the 2015 general election, Miliband resigned as party leader and Harriet Harman again became interim leader. Labour held a
leadership election in which
Jeremy Corbyn, then a member of the
Socialist Campaign Group, was considered a fringe candidate when the contest began, receiving nominations from just 36 MPs, one more than the minimum required to stand, and the support of just 16 MPs. The Labour Party saw a flood of membership applications during the leadership election, with most of the new members thought to be Corbyn supporters. Corbyn was elected leader with 60% of the vote. Membership continued to climb after his victory; one year later it had grown to more than 500,000, making it the largest political party in Western Europe. Tensions soon developed in the parliamentary party over Corbyn's leadership, particularly after the
2016 Brexit referendum. Many in the party were angered that Corbyn did not campaign strongly against Brexit; he had been only a "lukewarm" supporter of remaining in the European Union and refused to join
David Cameron in campaigning for the
Remain side. 21 members of the
Shadow Cabinet resigned after the referendum. Corbyn lost a
no-confidence vote among Labour MPs by 172–40, triggering a
leadership election, which he won decisively with 62% support among Labour party members. In April 2017, Prime Minister Theresa May called a
snap election for June 2017. Corbyn resisted pressure from within the Labour Party to call for a referendum on the eventual Brexit deal, instead focusing on healthcare, education and ending austerity. Although Labour started the campaign as far as 20 points behind, it defied expectations by gaining 40% of the vote, its greatest share since
2001 and the biggest increase in vote share in a single general election since
1945. The party gained a net 30 seats with the Conservatives losing their overall majority. From 2016, the Labour Party faced criticism for failing to deal with
antisemitism. Criticism was also levelled at Corbyn. The
Chakrabarti Inquiry cleared the party of widespread antisemitism, but identified an "occasionally toxic atmosphere". High-profile party members, including
Ken Livingstone,
Peter Willsman and
Chris Williamson, left the party or were suspended over antisemitism-related incidents. In 2018, internal divisions emerged over adopting the IHRA
Working Definition of Antisemitism, with those opposed arguing the definition limits
free speech including criticism of the state of
Israel. 68
rabbis criticised the leadership for its stance. The issue was cited by a number of Labour MPs who left the party to create
Change UK, a new political party made up of ex-Conservative and ex-Labour MPs. In the
2019 general election, Labour campaigned on a manifesto widely considered the most radical in decades, more closely resembling Labour's politics of the 1970s. These included plans to nationalise the country's biggest energy firms, the National Grid, the water industry, Royal Mail, the railways and the broadband arm of
BT. The election saw Labour win its lowest number of seats since 1935. Following Labour's defeat in the
2019 general election, Corbyn announced that he would stand down as leader. In 2020, a report by the
Equalities and Human Rights Commission found the party responsible for three
Equality Act breaches, including harassment and political interference in antisemitism complaints, but did not directly implicate Corbyn. In response, Corbyn said "One antisemite is one too many, but the scale of the problem was also dramatically overstated for political reasons by our opponents inside and outside the party, as well as by much of the media." The
Forde Report concluded allegations of antisemitism were weaponised by opponents of Corbyn and that hostility towards Corbyn inside the party from his opponents contributed to the party’s ineffective handling of antisemitism complaints and undermined the party’s leader and election campaigns.
Return to government (2024–present) , Prime Minister (2024–present) On 4 April 2020,
Keir Starmer was elected as Leader of the Labour Party amidst the
COVID-19 pandemic. During
his tenure as opposition leader, Starmer repositioned the party from the
left toward the
political centre, and emphasised the importance of eliminating
antisemitism within the party. In October 2020, he suspended former leader Corbyn over his response to the EHRC report on antisemitism, and was never readmitted until he was formally expelled in 2024 after he announced his intention to
run in his constituency as an independent candidate. Following a period of
significant political turmoil within the national Conservative government, Labour won the highest gains of the
2023 and
2024 local elections. In 2023, Starmer set out five missions for
his government, targeting issues such as economic growth, health, clean energy, crime and education. Starmer's allies sought to get Starmer supporting parliamentary candidates selected for winnable seats, sometimes characterised as a purge of leftwingers. About 100 candidates had not been selected when the election was called, so were chosen by a NEC panel rather than by
local CLPs. During the
2024 general election campaign, Labour maintained a strong poll lead.
Its manifesto focused on economic growth, planning system reform, infrastructure, clean energy, healthcare, education, childcare, constitutional reform, and strengthening workers' rights. It pledged a new
publicly owned energy company to achieve
net zero emissions, reducing
NHS waiting times and "rebuilding the NHS", reforming public services, and public ownership of
railway and local bus services. Starmer led Labour to a landslide victory with a majority of 174 and a popular vote share of 33.7%, ending fourteen years of Conservative government with Labour becoming the largest party in the
House of Commons. However, the Labour Party also lost five seats to independent candidates, including Jeremy Corbyn, driven by the party's relatively pro-Israel stance during the
Gaza war. They also lost one seat to the Conservative Party and one seat to the Green Party. Starmer succeeded
Rishi Sunak as prime minister on 5 July 2024, becoming the first Labour prime minister since Gordon Brown in 2010 and the first one to win a general election since Tony Blair in
2005. One of Starmer's first cabinet appointments was
Rachel Reeves as Chancellor, which made her the first woman to hold the office. The
2024 State Opening of Parliament outlined 39 pieces of legislation that Labour proposed, including
bills to
renationalise the railways, strengthen workers' rights, and to give areas of England
devolution powers.On 1 May 2025,
the first local elections of Starmer's premiership were held, which saw losses across England from 2021. MPs and councillors representing various sections of the party expressed criticism of unpopular actions taken by the government. A Labour mayor was elected
in the West of England election. In November 2025, the government announced a series of measures intended to reduce irregular migration. Opinion polls showed satisfaction with the Labour government and Starmer declining, and in September 2025
Ipsos indicated that Starmer was the most unpopular prime minister since Ipsos's records began in 1977, with 77% of the public dissatisfied with Starmer's job performance, and
Reform UK holding a +12 points voting intention lead over Labour. In the
February 2026 Gorton and Denton by-election the
Green Party gained the seat from Labour who had held the seat in that area since 1931, which BBC elections analyst
John Curtice described as "seismic" and of historic impact. == Ideology ==