Labour 'optimistic' about party prospects in 2026

LABOUR'S chairwoman has insisted she is “optimistic” about the party's prospects in 2026, as its first full year of Government draws to a close.

- DAVID LYNCH

Renew Britain

Anna Turley acknowledged that people had not yet began to feel the “change” which Labour promised ahead of the 2024 election, but insisted to the Press Association that next year they would notice the impact of the Government's actions.

Other parties at Westminster meanwhile appear fixed upon the next test of the electorate’s opinion at the ballot box as their major priority for 2026: the May local elections.

Reform UK's Nigel Farage even told PA that his three priorities for the year ahead were all the “May 7 elections”

Labour has suffered a series of challenges throughout the year, including the resignation of high-profile figures Angela Rayner and Lord Peter Mandelson, the threat of backbench rebellion over welfare reforms, and a savage briefing war over potential plots to oust Sir Keir Starmer.

Over the same period, its place in opinion polls has slipped, to the point it now finds itself less popular than the Conservatives in some surveys of public opinion.