The advantage of being interim Interim CEO of ThinkLabour (for two weeks only!) is that I have made the executive order to bring my lovely greyhound into the office ♥️🐕

@thinklabour.bsky.social Labour membership polling written up in the Guardian today. The current Labour membership turn out to be surprisingly pragmatic about difficult issues like welfare and defence. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Labour members ‘have tougher view on welfare than you might think’, poll suggests

Survey finds party members see health, the economy, cost of living and climate crisis among biggest challenges

theguardian.com

What have Josh Widdecombe, driving tests and the cost of living got to do with each other? Find out in @thinklabour.bsky.social's new blog.

ThinkLabour@thinklabour.bsky.social · 2d ago

Why is it still harder to book a driving test than get Glastonbury tickets? Our latest substack looks at why the driving test backlog still hasn't been fixed six years after the pandemic - and argues the real obstacle isn't logistics, it's politics.

Deciding whether kids are "academic" or "technical" at an early age is going to work out particularly badly for boys, who are generally later developers and where stereotyping is likely to push them towards the non-academic path.

Sam Freedman@samfr.bsky.social · 3d ago

Why do so many progressives want this? I just don't get it.

Labour's headline voting intention is recovering. This pre-dates Burnham becoming PM, but as his victory became inevitable we've seen polls putting Labour within touching distance of Reform. Crucially, this appears to be a consolidation of the progressive vote, rather than gains from Reform.

Our first focus groups on Andy Burnham with Labour considerers with a spectrum of views. Interesting North/South divide - Southerners simply know less about him. There's hope he'll be more representative of "Labour values" than the previous government – will be important that he lives up to that.

ThinkLabour@thinklabour.bsky.social · 2w ago

Today Britain has a new Prime Minister. So we brought together a focus group with Labour considerers to ask a simple question: what do they actually think of Andy Burnham? Read about the challenges he faces in public opinion in our latest substack, by @cwp-weir.bsky.social

My debut on the No Sacred Cows podcast, talking about my favourite subject - the fragmentation of the electorate and how Labour might put it back together again (in which I am told I sound almost optimistic!)

No Sacred Cows@nosacredcows.media · 3w ago

As Andy Burnham prepares for power, @thinklabour.bsky.social's @christabelcoops.bsky.social joins us to discuss Labour's electoral challenge, what he can do differently and how the party can ensure it wins a second term. Out everywhere now. nocows.substack.com/p/the-end-of...

For anyone with even a passing interest in polling, this is a fantastic resource, created by @cwp-weir.bsky.social, Research Manager at @thinklabour.bsky.social, which collates all the latest public headline polling, but also pulls out demographic detail from the tables. www.pollingpolis.co.uk

This is a good and necessary first step in repairing Labour's relationship with the Muslim community. But the mistakes over Gaza reflect broader problems, including a sense that Labour hasn't done enough to stand up for ethnic minorities against the hard right. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Andy Burnham apologises for Labour’s stance on Gaza and says it ‘didn’t get it right’

Exclusive: PM-in-waiting says party must ‘do better’ in approach to Middle East and he will put more pressure on Israel

theguardian.com

The entire house buying process needs to be digitised and handled by AI agents because the fact that a solicitor failing to read an email for a week or a dispute about what colour something is shaded on a lease plan or an estate agent not chasing up, can cause a sale to fall through is ridiculous.

There's a trend among the liberal commentariat to say the UK would be better off in the EU but it's going to be terribly, terribly difficult to rejoin and it will be controversial with the public, so we can't . While criticising Starmer for taking the same attitude to every other difficult decision.

Extraordinary credit to Sadiq Khan for pushing through this deeply controversial policy. This is what can happen when politicians are prepared to stick to their principles.

Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan@london.gov.uk · last mo.

This is remarkable.

Was on Times Radio yesterday making the point that Burnham won big in Makerfield mainly because he was so successful at consolidating the progressive vote and turning out people who hadn't viewed in the locals and less because he has a magic appeal to Reform voters.

ThinkLabour@thinklabour.bsky.social · last mo.

What is the real lesson of Makerfield? Our Director of Research, Christabel Cooper, appeared on Times radio yesterday to discuss the importance of consolidating the progressive block under the Labour banner.

A remarkable Labour win last night. The real lesson of Makerfield? In our latest substack, Christabel Cooper explains why rebuilding a larger progressive coalition, while persuading more transactional voters that Labour can stand up for them and deliver in office is the path to beating Reform.

The real lesson of Makerfield

Christabel Cooper, Director of Research

thinklabour.substack.com

It is extremely important that Labour understands that the movement of voters between Lab and Ref was not the crucial factor, it was consolidation of the anti-Ref vote and Lab voters turning out in droves. Otherwise Burnham will make the same mistakes as Starmer in targeting only one set of voters.

Nathan@nwylabour.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Concerned about this 'swathes of ex-Reform voters returning to Labour' narrative taking hold. On the numbers it does not seem likely to be true - Reform got more votes at this by-election than they did across the constituency's wards at the locals.

Absolutely fascinating polling by @christabelcoops.bsky.social @thinklabour.bsky.social. Says a lot about the (mis)perceptions of voters - and the cues they use to evaluate the social background of politicians.

NEW from @convergent-opinion.bsky.social Labour 12pts ahead in Makerfield, with Kenyon's sexist comments actively costing Reform votes Lab: 49% Ref: 37% Res: 5% Grn: 5% Other 5% 525 adults, 2-12 June 2026

If there had been a crucial by-election in, say, Bristol - I wonder if the Westminster commentariat would be quite as keen on playing endless vox pops when people might be complaining about Gaza, student loans and that Labour isn't standing up enough against the far right.

And last week we had the "two tier policing" discussion when there is no actual evidence of this phenomenon (other than police continuing to stop and search brown people at a disproportionate rate).

Colm Murphy@colmpm.bsky.social · 2mo ago

I have to say, listening to the Today programme dedicate an entire (context free) section about whether migrants are more likely to be convicted criminals *the morning after* hundreds of non-migrants of my own ethnicity committed a pogrom is blood boiling.

Really worth reading @thinklabour.bsky.social's new political economy piece. It sees technology as an engine of growth but in order to save social democracy not ignore it, as Blair's essay did. It proposes a bigger state, but one that stays in its lane and lets business get on with what it's good at

ThinkLabour@thinklabour.bsky.social · 2mo ago

What should Labour’s political economy look like in an age of rapid technological change? Today, ThinkLabour launches Progressive Dynamism by our Director of Policy, James Howat. thinklabour.co.uk/thinking/pro...

Maybe we should ban men from social media.... 🤔

Sunder Katwala (sundersays)@sundersays.bsky.social · 2mo ago

In Survation's 2nd Makerfield poll, Labour (49-39) was +10 due to a decisive lead with women; + a too close to call lead with men. Women: Labour +13 Labour 42% Reform 29% Restore 7% (n = 248) Men: Labour + 2 Labour 37% Reform 35% Restore 6% (n= 233) (26th May - 1st June)

Feels like I'm going a bit mad. Much of the commentary claims the guidance says police shouldn't treat people equally. It actually says they don't always have to treat everyone the same, with the explicit aim of achieving equal outcomes. Treating different people differently is...er... common sense.

Was a pleasure to chat to @pimlicat.bsky.social and @sturdyalex.bsky.social about my report "Who Is Labour For?", which argues that Labour has treated its values-based voters transactionally, and attempted to appeal to right-leaning transactional voters on the basis of values. This hasn't worked.

Quiet Riot@quietriotpod.bsky.social · 2mo ago

💥 NEW: B-SIDE & Labour’s tricky second album 💥 We chat with @christabelcoops.bsky.social about her latest research: 🌹Who is Lab for? 📈 How can they win? ⚖️ Back to values Plus a Chalamet inspired GASI 🎭 🍏 podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/q... 🎧 open.spotify.com/episode/6m63...

My debut on Quiet Riot discussing the tragic Henry Nowak case. Seems clear that the far right Restore party is doing to Reform, what Reform did to the Tories, ie pushing them further right, hence Farage's awful language in this case. But this simultaneously puts at risk their more moderate voters.

Quiet Riot@quietriotpod.bsky.social · 2mo ago

🆕 The Rage in Farage @sturdyalex.bsky.social, @pimlicat.bsky.social, & guest @christabelcoops.bsky.social discuss the exploitation of Henry Nowak’s murder, as Farage invites disorder for the third summer in a row. 🎧 open.spotify.com/episode/4elm... 🍏 podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/q...

Helpful poll which (as with every other bit of data) shows the challenge Labour faces But, combining with @christabelcoops.bsky.social work, you can sort of see a path through if you squint Populist/transactional on economics/tech/FP, socially liberal on culture, quietly competant on immigration

Sam Freedman@samfr.bsky.social · 2mo ago

New post: "Playing on difficult mode" Using data from an exclusive new mega-poll I look at how a new Labour leader can come up with a governing project that rebuilds the party's voter coalition. And I explain why Blair's strategy wouldn't work. open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/p...

Aside from anything else, the vast majority of the Makerfield voters who would die on a hill about building in fields will be among the 55% who would never consider voting for Andy Burnham anyway

Jennifer Williams@jenwilliamsft.bsky.social · 2mo ago

I hadn’t realised Andy Burnham had done a Tik Tok about not building on fields. He is mayor of Makerfield and his own policy prescribes building on fields, because it isn’t possible to hit housing targets any other way

Key finding in this new research is that Muslim voters more contested & more fragmented - less of a bloc, not more of a bloc. A more accurate discourse if media + all parties were to pay more attention to age, education, geography,gender dynamics within minority groups as well as the majority

Christabel Cooper@christabelcoops.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Today @thinklabour.bsky.social publishes our report on Muslim voters, dispelling some misconceptions. Muslims - like most other Brits - prioritise the cost of living above any other issue including the conflict in Gaza. thinklabour.co.uk/thinking/gon...

This work by @christabelcoops.bsky.social and @fintan-smith.bsky.social gives us novel and rigorous insights into a group of voters that is normally very hard to reach in traditional surveys. They're both too modest to blow their own horn but I'll do it for them

Christabel Cooper@christabelcoops.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Today @thinklabour.bsky.social publishes our report on Muslim voters, dispelling some misconceptions. Muslims - like most other Brits - prioritise the cost of living above any other issue including the conflict in Gaza. thinklabour.co.uk/thinking/gon...

Today @thinklabour.bsky.social publishes our report on Muslim voters, dispelling some misconceptions. Muslims - like most other Brits - prioritise the cost of living above any other issue including the conflict in Gaza. thinklabour.co.uk/thinking/gon...

Gone, but not forever: Why many British Muslims fell out of love with Labour - but remain open to return • ThinkLabour

ThinkLabour is a think tank working at the heart of British politics to support the Labour movement with research, strategy, and policy development.

thinklabour.co.uk

If you want to read something genuinely thoughtful about Labour's future, try this. A single paragraph contains more interesting ideas than all 5,000 words of Blair's nonsense.

Christabel Cooper@christabelcoops.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Whoever ends up leading Labour will face the same existential question after the local elections: how does Labour rebuild a coalition broad enough to win again? I argue Labour should be clearer that it is an economically left-leaning and socially liberal party. thinklabour.co.uk/thinking/who...