Act now to win back Red Wall voters, Labour MPs say

A group of around 45 Labour MPs have called on the government to “act now” to win back voters in northern England and the Midlands.

The Labour Red Wall Group, which represents areas which have traditionally supported the party, said it was not “weak” to respond to issues raised by the public, including concern over axing winter fuel payments for millions of pensioners.

Calls to rethink the move and other policies including cuts to disability benefits have been growing after a disastrous set of local election results for Labour last week.

On Tuesday the government insisted it would not reverse the winter fuel cuts and it would not be “blown off course” by the “disappointing” results.

Labour lost two-thirds of the seats it was defending in council elections in parts of England, as well as a by-election in Runcorn and Helsby.

Reform UK overturned a majority of nearly 15,000 to take the Cheshire seat by just six votes.

In areas like Durham and Doncaster, Labour lost seats to Reform, allowing Nigel Farage’s party to take control of the council.

On the left, the party also shed votes to the Greens.

However, Reform, which also seized control of eight councils from the Conservatives, was the big winner of the night and the results have intensified calls for the government to focus on the threat from the party.

The Red Wall encompasses Brexit-supporting areas which fell to the Conservatives in 2019 after decades as Labour strongholds. However, many returned to voting Labour in last year’s landslide election victory.

Jo White, the MP for Bassetlaw who leads the group, told Matt Chorley on BBC Radio 5 Live that Labour was facing an “existential threat”.

She said Red Wall MPs met on Tuesday and “the anger in the room was palpable because we can all sense that the vote for Labour that we had in 2024 has just melted away”.

In a statement the group said that in the local election results “our voters told us loudly and clearly that we have not met their expectations”.

They said Sir Keir Starmer’s response that he would “go further and faster” in delivering his plans had “fallen on deaf ears”.

“Responding to the issues raised by our constituents, including on winter fuel, isn’t weak it takes us to a position of strength,” the statement said.

“[The prime minister] must now break the disconnect between Westminster and the Red Wall areas.”

The group also called for the government to “breakaway from Treasury orthodoxy” to ensure post-industrial towns “get the investment we desperately need”.

“The government has to act now before it’s too late,” they added.

Responding to the group’s statement, the PM’s spokesman said the government was “delivering stability with the public finances” and would not be “knocked off course”.

Former cabinet minister Louise Haigh, who resigned last year over a previous fraud offence, is also among those calling for the government to change its approach following the local elections.

She told BBC Newsnight “unpopular decisions” like cuts to winter fuel payments and benefits “are overshadowing the good ones”.

The Sheffield Heeley MP added that she did not think it was “completely necessary” to reverse the winter fuel cuts, but called for an “economic reset” and a tax on the wealthiest individuals as an alternative to slashing public spending.

Haigh said she was also worried about benefit cuts and was unlikely to support the proposals in their current form when they are voted on by MPs.

Other senior Labour figures urging policy changes include Welsh First Minister Eluned Morgan, who on Tuesday called for the government to scrap some of the planned benefit cuts and rethink axing winter fuel payments for all but the poorest pensioners.

Labour MPs who oppose the winter fuel cuts believe a reversal of the policy, which was introduced last year, would be a clear sign from the prime minister that he is listening to voters.

However, others closer to government thinking question whether there would be any political benefit to changing course at this stage, believing the damage has already been done.

Criticism of changes to disability benefits, which would make it harder for people to claim Personal Independence Payment (Pip), could become more pressing, with a vote in the House of Commons likely next month.

Given Labour’s large majority there is no prospect of the government losing the vote but it could become a focus of broader disaffection.