Keir Starmer 'abandoned by working class' as Reform support as high as Labour among union workers

Sir Keir Starmer faces a stark warning from trade unions after polling revealed Reform UK now commands equal support among union members as Labour.

The survey conducted by JL Partners showed both parties securing 28 per cent backing from unionised workers, representing a dramatic 20-point collapse in Labour support since the 2024 general election.

The findings prove particularly troubling when examining Britain's two largest unions. Among Unite members, Nigel Farage's party leads Labour by 36 per cent to 30 per cent.

The gap widens further among GMB members, where Reform holds a nine-point advantage at 31 per cent compared to Labour's 22 per cent.

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The poll of 1,002 public sector union members represents a significant blow to a party historically intertwined with the trade union movement, which contributed £2.4million to Labour in 2024.

General Secretary of Unite Sharon Graham described the polling as "damning but not surprising" and delivered a blunt assessment of Labour's predicament.

"Labour has abandoned the working class, and the working class have abandoned Labour," she told The Times.

Ms Graham pointed to specific policy decisions that had alienated workers, stating: "Being prepared to cut the winter fuel allowance, slash benefits for the disabled and aid and abet a jobless transition for oil and gas workers at the same time workers and their families are struggling with a baked-in cost of living crisis is not the change people voted for."

Unite remains Labour's biggest financial backer but announced earlier this year it would reduce its contributions by 40 per cent.

The union has also reportedly held discussions with Reform UK officials in Birmingham regarding bin strikes, signalling a willingness to engage with Labour's rivals.

Nigel Farage was quick to sieze the findings, telling The Times: "This polling tells me exactly what I have seen on the campaign trail. Labour is no longer the party of the patriotic working class."

"That mantle now belongs to Reform, which is now the party of those who work hard but for whom the system doesn't work."

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Newly-appointed Health Secretary James Murray sought to downplay the significance of the survey, telling GB News: "We are two years into a five-year parliament and we always said things would take time."

Mr Murray argued that union members remained concerned about issues where Reform had opposed Labour's agenda.

"Don't forget, union members care about increases to minimum wage which Reform opposed. Union members care about workers' rights, which Reform also opposed," he said.

General Secretary of GMB Gary Smith cautioned that while Reform posed a threat to workers' interests, Labour needed to demonstrate its commitment to working people.

"Reform are no friends of workers. They want to cancel hugely important union rights and are targeting the pensions of the low paid," Mr Smith said.

"But Labour has to show working-class people it can be on their side — as it did with last week's essential help for our ceramics industry."

Mr Smith warned that pursuing "ideologically driven energy policies that kill jobs and opportunities in our communities" without adequate alternatives would "alienate more and more workers" and lead to "electoral disaster" for the governing party.

A Labour spokesman defended the government's record, saying: "Labour is, and always has been, the party of working people, from delivering the biggest upgrade of workers rights in a generation to boosting the national minimum and living wage."

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