A veteran Labour politician has warned Sir Keir Starmer he can never win back many of the former Labour voters that have switched to Reform. Tom Watson, a former Labour Deputy Leader, said: “We are heading for a stop Farage election.” But as Labour’s annual conference takes place in Liverpool, he told the Prime Minister: “There are Reform supporters Labour is not likely to win back.”
Lord Watson, a former MP, made the comments as he urged Sir Keir “to resist the temptation to chase voters you are unlikely to regain from Reform”. It echoes warnings from some Labour MPs who have urged Sir Keir not to try to be more right wing than Nigel Farage and Reform UK. The Prime Minister has condemned high levels of immigration, saying the UK risks becoming an “island of strangers”, and has announced plans for digital ID “cards”, which will actually be a mobile phone app, saying this will stop people working illegally.
But there are some Labour politicians who believe this strategy is doomed to failure. They believe that there are enough “moderate” or liberal-minded voters to beat Reform, but fear Sir Keir actually risks driving them away by some of his tough rhetoric designed to take on Mr Farage.
Writing in his Substack newsletter, Lord Watson said: “There are Reform supporters Labour is not likely to win back. This implies a simple truth: you need a progressive alliance in the country. Choose the coalition you need, then resist the temptation to chase voters you are unlikely to regain from Reform.”
He said he hoped Sir Keir would move in this direction in Labour’s annual conference in Liverpool this week. Lord Watson said: “Progressive voters are already the majority. They live in Labour, the Greens, the Liberal Democrats, Plaid Cymru and sometimes the SNP. They want climate action, more devolution, electoral reform and a stronger welfare state.”
The Labour grandee said: “We are heading for a stop Farage election. If Reform defines the argument, it will be on terrain that belittles the state and popularises new threats. If Labour defines the argument, it should be on terrain that modernises the state, widens opportunity and encourages human flourishing in all its forms. Choose progress, then defend it.”
And he warned that Labour could make its problems worse if it presented the Prime Minister’s ID card plan badly.
“The government’s plan for digital ID is billed as modern statecraft and a practical answer to illegal working. Starmer calls it an enormous opportunity. Critics warn of overreach and risk. The question for progressives is simple: does this make a complex system work fairly for citizens, or does it borrow the language of Reform to curtail individual liberty?”
