Labour’s First Year: Three mythbusters to use on the doorstep – LabourList

It’s been a year since Labour took office. A lot has changed, and as members we see that progress clearly.

But explaining it to voters is much harder. When someone pushes back on Labour’s record, it’s easy to give a muddled answer if you’re not prepared.

That’s a missed opportunity, whether you’re on the doorstep, sparring on Twitter, or debating in the pub. Because if handled right, it’s a chance to turn a sceptic into a supporter.

The good news is, Labour’s first year tells an incredibly compelling story. You just need the right language to land it. Fortunately, there’s a clear framework you can use to do that confidently.

So here’s the cheat sheet for handling the three biggest challenges voters throw at us about Labour’s first year.

We’ll look at:

• Challenge #1: “Labour has no narrative” – and the one theme that ties Keir Starmer’s agenda together neatly.
• Challenge #2: “Nothing has changed” – and three tangible improvements you can already see.
• Challenge #3: “Labour is the same as the Tories” – and three examples that prove the gap between them couldn’t be wider.

That’s all you need to make Labour’s impact this year impossible to dismiss.

Challenge #1: “Labour has no narrative”

Many have claimed that Labour has no story. They say it lacks a theme that binds its agenda, which makes every move feel rash and reactive.

That couldn’t be more wrong.

There’s a golden thread that runs through Starmer’s platform. Everything his government does is about security.

It’s not obvious at first, but once you see it, you notice it everywhere:

• Banning no-fault evictions, so renters can feel secure in their homes.
• Unfair dismissal rights from day one, so workers can feel secure in their jobs.
• 3,000 extra neighbourhood police, so we can all feel secure in our communities.

It also guides Labour’s decisions in moments of crisis. For example, when the £20bn black hole was discovered, Rachel Reeves held the line on fiscal discipline to keep Britain economically secure. And when the US wavered on Ukraine, Starmer raised defence spending to strengthen our national security.

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This focus on security makes perfect sense for three reasons.

First, remember what we inherited. The Tories left us with striking train drivers, a hollowed out NHS, and a cost of living crisis that strained household budgets. Daily life became increasingly uncertain, so reversing that was crucial.

Security is also a basic human desire. In Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, it sits above only the basics like food, water, and air. After 14 years of the Tories, bookended by a financial crisis and a global pandemic, it’s the obvious place to start.

Finally, security produces popular policies. Workers’ rights reform, increased defence spending, and banning no-fault evictions all poll incredibly well, even with non-Labour voters.

Challenge #2: “Nothing has changed under Labour”

Some voters complain Labour has done nothing in its first year.

The secret to responding to this is to listen carefully for the real objection, and handle that instead.

Most Brits don’t follow day-to-day politics closely. That means they don’t see the raft of positive change Labour makes week after week. So when voters say nothing has changed, what they’re usually telling us is, “Nothing has changed in my life.”

It’s a subtle point, but it makes their view more understandable. Politics affects people differently, so depending on their situation, it’s possible they haven’t yet felt the impact of Labour’s policies.

But for many others, the change has been unmissable. Here are some tangible ways that has happened:

• Millions more NHS appointments, which helped bring waiting lists to a two-year low.
• Free breakfast clubs for 180,000 pupils, rolling out nationally from September.
• Water company fines used to clean up our rivers, lakes, and seas.

Challenge #3: Labour is just the same as the Tories

One of the realities for Labour is facing attacks not just from the right, but also from the left.

Some on the far left argue that Labour promises change, but serves the same interests as its Conservative predecessors.

The reason they say this is that governing often requires making choices that, while potentially unpopular in the short term, bring long-term benefit. Not every policy can be as radical or as quickly implemented as we might want.

But the truth is Labour and the Tories have fundamentally different political compasses. Labour aims for fairness, community, and – yes – security. The Tories prioritise market freedom, deregulation, and individualism.

This rift is stark when you look at how they approach the same policies:

• Onshore wind: The Tories banned on-shore wind farms and handed out more oil and gas licences. Labour stopped the licences and lifted the wind farm ban, speeding up clean energy production.
• Asylum: The Tories blocked the Home Office from processing most asylum claims, then spent millions on migrant hotels and the failed Rwanda scheme instead. Labour scrapped the Rwanda scheme, started phasing out hotels, and has increased the number of applications processed by 116%.
• Strikes: The Tories made it harder to strike by increasing ballot thresholds and notice periods, and by requiring minimum service levels during strikes. Labour has scrapped the minimum service levels law and is reversing other key restrictions.

Meaningful change happens quietly and in small pieces. That’s what Labour has done this year. Now it’s our job to put those pieces together and help voters see the full picture.

So let’s go out there and tell this story, before someone else writes it for us.

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