Trade union members are now just as likely to support Reform UK as Labour, a new poll has revealed in a damning blow for Sir Keir Starmer’s party.
Latest figures show Labour’s support amongst union members has plummeted by 20 points since 2024, in what union leaders have declared is proof that the “working class have abandoned” the party.
Meanwhile, Nigel Farage’s party gained 20 points since the general election, placing Reform and Labour both at 28 points in the survey of 1,002 public sector union members.
The poll, carried out by JL Partners for The Times, will be a wake up call for the Labour Party, which has historically held close ties with Britain’s trade unions and their members.
But Reform UK has threatened the party’s hold in their traditional industrial heartlands, as demonstrated by last month’s disastrous local election results.
Sir Keir’s position is under increasing strain, and after the local elections Labour affiliated groups issued a statement calling for the prime minister to step down.
Sharon Graham, the leader of Unite, said the figures were “damning but not surprising”, and warned there is “no guarantee that workers will return” to the party.
“Labour has abandoned the working class, and the working class have abandoned Labour,” she told The Times.
“Being prepared to cut the winter fuel allowance, slash benefits for the disabled and aid and abet a jobless transition for oil and gas workers at the same time workers and their families are struggling with a baked-in cost of living crisis is not the change people voted for.”
Unite is still the Labour Party’s largest donor, but announced it would cut its contributions by 40 per cent earlier this year, and reportedly held a meeting with Reform UK officials in Birmingham over bin strikes.
Gary Smith, general secretary of GMB warned the government’s energy policies would “alienate more and more workers” and lead to an “electoral disaster” for Labour.
“Reform are no friends of workers. They want to cancel hugely important union rights and are targeting the pensions of the low paid,” he told The Times.
“But Labour has to show working-class people it can be on their side – as it did with last week’s essential help for our ceramics industry.”
Maryam Eslamdoust, the leader of the TSSA transport workers’ union, warned Labour must “completely change political course” if it wants to keep Mr Farage out of power.
She told The Times: “Labour must completely change political course. Failure to do so will only open the door to a far-right government led by Farage.”
Sir Keir’s position is under increasing strain, and after the local elections several union leaders demanded that he step down.
Paul Nowak, general secretary of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), said last week that there is an “overwhelming sense of frustration” from trade unions.
Mr Farage also commented on the polling, declaring Labour is “no longer the party of the patriotic working class”.
He told The Times: “That mantle now belongs to Reform, which is now the party of those who work hard but for whom the system doesn’t work.”
