No 10 sources say PM wants party to refocus on Tories as electoral threat after prioritising Reform and Greens
Andy Burnham has instructed the Labour party to “re-arm” to fight the Conservatives at the next election amid concern inside government that they must take the prospect of a Kemi Badenoch-led recovery seriously.
Downing Street sources said the prime minister wanted Labour headquarters to refocus on the Tories as an electoral threat after more than two years of prioritising Nigel Farage’s Reform and, on their left flank, the Greens.
“Andy is well aware of how volatile electoral support is. Just because the Tories are trailing in the polls now, their trajectory is upwards and they could bounce back ahead of the election. We can’t be complacent about our old foe,” one source said.
The Conservatives took 24% of the vote at the last general election, before support dipped to 18%. But last week this had risen to 25%, according to polling from More in Common, the first time in 18 months they had exceeded their vote share at the time of their record election defeat.
Many Tory MPs who had felt their party’s situation was existential, now believed they had a route back, with Badenoch finally appearing to recognise that the economy, rather than culture wars, presented her with an opportunity…
