With Reform clearly identified by Labour members as the Party’s greatest electoral threat, the government will have little respite from their grassroots’ rancour as our latest poll with LabourList also revealed a significant majority still think that the party is moving in the wrong direction. Ahead of the Spending Review on June 11, the membership have also highlighted the areas where they would like to see spending protected or cut back, whilst identifying the myriad policy areas where the leadership are doing well or could do better. Taken together, they reveal a path for the party to get back on track. 

A clear majority still believe the party is heading in the wrong direction – and should move to the left

In our last poll of Labour members, 68% felt that the Labour Party was heading in the wrong direction, up from 49% in March. Whilst that number has declined somewhat since, it is still robust – sitting on a healthy (or not so healthy, if you’re part of Labour’s top brass) 64%. 

But the membership have not thrown up their hands and resigned themselves to an ever-worsening doom spiral. They suggest a clear alternative: move to the left. 

64% want the government to move leftwards, whilst only 31% think they should continue with their current agenda. 

Spending: prioritise investment in public services and local communities

Looking ahead to the Spending Review, defence is the frontrunner as the area Labour should look to make savings from, with just over a quarter of members supporting savings here. This is in stark contrast to the government’s proposals to increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP from April 2027. Areas where about 10% of the membership would like to see savings included culture, sport, and the arts, welfare and benefits for pensioners, and international aid and development. 

Other areas received very little support for cutbacks, with local government funding, housing, social care, and education receiving virtually no support for savings.

Areas of spending to protect are almost a mirror image of those where there should be savings in the eyes of the membership. Health leads the pack on 29%, with local government funding on second with 14%, closely followed by welfare and benefits for children and those of working age (13%). Defence lags behind on only 6%, with welfare and benefits for pensioners, international aid and development, and culture, sport, and the arts all trailing on 5% or less. 

Membership see lack of progress on numerous issues and support reversing controversial government policies

You don’t have to be Sherlock Holmes to unpick what is driving the membership’s position. Though they are more likely to say the government has made the most progress on the NHS (47%) and industrial relations (38%), perhaps reflecting the reduction in NHS waiting lists and some early moves on pay disputes and public sector negotiations, the picture becomes murkier after that. 

Barely a fifth of members believe the most progress has been made on national security (23%) which comes in third place. Despite recent trade deals and a new spate of immigration measures, the economy was identified by only 18% of the membership as the issue most progress had been made on, and immigration and refugees and asylum seekers rank poorly, on 9% and 7% respectively.

In keeping with this lack of enthusiasm regarding the government’s progress on key issues, the membership also supported reversing many of its headline-dominating policies. Large majorities support scrapping the two-child benefit cap (79%), reversing winter fuel payments cuts (61%), and reinstating the £28bn green investment target (61%). It is noteworthy that 80% of the membership supported the government’s earlier U-turn on the cuts to winter fuel payment – they are likely buoyed by the Chancellor’s confirmation on June 9 that more than 75% of pensioners will now get winter fuel payment. A notable exception to this was the inheritance tax reform for farmers, which 83% of the membership would like to keep.

Membership consternation does not necessarily translate into a desire to leave the party – though the story is different for Corbyn-era members

Whilst the membership appear dismayed, most plan on sticking with the party. 50% said they had not considered leaving Labour since the last general election, whilst 49% said that they had. 

However, when we compare based on when they became members, a clear disparity emerges. 67% of those who joined after Corbyn became leader in 2015 have considered leaving, in contrast to only 40% of those who joined after Starmer assumed the leadership. 

Internal allegiances are hard to shake. Even if a majority of the membership continues to believe the Labour Party is heading in the wrong direction, only those who are part of its vanquished faction are notably more likely to consider taking decisive action by breaking with the party entirely. 

The party might be going down a treacherous path in a deep dark forest according to large swathes of its membership, but there are clear ways out. It remains to be seen if Starmer’s premiership will listen to members and take the necessary steps to win them over in the near future – or tip them over the edge. 

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Get the data

Survation conducted a poll of 1,304 Labour Party members via LabourList’s database between 30th May and 1st June 2025. Tables are available here.

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