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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Rowena Mason Whitehall editor

‘They will not get my vote this year’: Birmingham focus group shows shift from Labour support

A homeless person lies huddled under a sleeping bag next to a wall and steps in front of a grand stone council building.
A person sleeps rough by the steps to the Birmingham city council building in Victoria Square. Two of the focus group had noticed an increase in homelessness across the city, one saying the problem was ‘out of control’. Photograph: Fabio De Paola/The Guardian

Almost two years into Keir Starmer’s government, the polls suggest that many swing voters, including some of those who voted Labour, are unimpressed with how the country is being run.

In the constituency of Birmingham Yardley, a focus group of eight previous Labour voters last week found support was now splintering in different directions, with one person considering going to Reform and several to the Greens. The group, convened by More in Common, had very little good to say about the government on the key issues.

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