'It's the cuts' Voter fury at 'change' that never came

Keir Starmer rode a red wave into Downing Street on the back of a furious desire for change.

- Jessica Elgot

Keir Starmer rode a red wave into Downing Street on the back of a furious desire for change. Poll after poll said that top of the list for change was the cost of living, followed by public services.

But just nine months from Labour taking power, many voters seem to be already giving up on the government's ability to deliver that change. The speed of that rejection has been extraordinary.

There is a barely concealed frustration among some Labour staffers about the intensity of the rejection. This is a government delivering a huge boost to the minimum wage, protecting employees from tax rises or fuel duty increases, nationalising the railways and investing billions in the NHS.

But the tone was set by the early cut to the winter fuel allowance and exacerbated by the forthcoming welfare changes, which will hit the disabled.