Democrats' defeat is a warning to Labour...don't ignore the views of ordinary voters

LABOUR will face the same fury that drove the Democrats out of office and handed the White House to Donald Trump if they ignore the biggest worries of ordinary voters, senior party figures have warned.

- David Williamson and Jonathan Walker

They say Sir Keir Starmer and his team turn a blind eye to the lessons of the US election at their peril.

The party must tackle voters' anxieties about key issues including the cost of living and immigration, and not just "obscure causes", they argue.

Former Labour Cabinet minister Liam Byrne said: "The scale of President Trump's emphatic re-election is not just a shock, it's a warning to Labour and the European Left." A US-wide survey of more than 120,000 Americans found around nine in 10 were concerned about the cost of groceries, with about eight in 10 worried about housing or petrol costs.

There are fears Labour will be punished if it ignores the "money worries" of everyday Britons. Mr Byrne said voters in the North and the Midlands felt their regions had been "left behind" as the South of England grew wealthier.

He said: "If we don't address this, we too will face the kind of populist surge that brought Trump back into office." There is anxiety in Labour circles that the party will take a hammering from Reform UK led by veteran Brexiteer and Trump ally Nigel Farage unless it addresses worries about high levels of immigration.

Former Labour foreign minister Kim Howells warned: "The idea that you shouldn't be concerned with how many people you let in is madness." He cautioned that Labour ignores Reform at its "extreme peril".

And a Labour MP in a former industrial heartland seat said: "Nigel Farage's party is especially dangerous for us.