New polling for Compassion in Politics suggests Labour would win significantly more votes by showing greater compassion, rather than by attempting to chase Reform’s agenda.

The polling, conducted by Survation Ltd, indicates that Labour could achieve a net gain of up to 3.2 million votes at the next general election if Prime Minister Keir Starmer stopped trying to out-tough Reform and instead stood more clearly by the party’s core principles, showing greater sincerity and compassion.

To put that figure in context, 3.2 million votes is roughly one sixth of the total turnout at the last general election. On a similar turnout next time, such a shift could be enough to overturn Reform’s projected majority.

These findings directly challenge the fatalism that has taken hold in Westminster: the assumption that voters are inevitably drifting rightwards, and that the only way to defeat the far right is to echo its language or legitimise its framing. The polling suggests the opposite is true.

As I write in the Byline Times, which carries exclusive details of the research:

“If Labour continues to believe that its route to victory lies in sounding more like Reform, it will succeed only in shrinking itself, morally and electorally.

If, instead, it chooses to build a confident progressive alternative, rooted in honesty, inclusion and compassion, it could unlock millions of votes and tap into a majority that is already there, waiting to be mobilised.”

My thanks go to Survation Ltd and 38 Degrees for their work in identifying this “progressive majority”, and for helping to demonstrate that there is a real and viable alternative to Labour’s continued drift to the right.

Read the Byline Times Article