One year ago, our October cover featured an image of a Starmer’s Britain Roadmap, as we looked at what charities might expect from the then-new Labour government.
It is probably fair to say that Keir Starmer was not expecting some of the obstacles that have appeared over the last year. At the time of writing, the prime minister is facing more scrutiny and fallout from the Peter Mandelson scandal, has just lost an adviser over inappropriate remarks made about Diane Abbott, and is still recovering from Angela Rayner’s resignation over her stamp duty affairs.
Many of those who voted for Labour in the last general election arguably did so at least partly in reaction to the string of scandals and leadership changes that took place under the previous Conservative administration.
The worry among some in Labour will be that they will lose many of these voters if the government does not change course.
But, where will these voters turn? The well-established Conservative and Liberal Democrats may gain some, but there are newer parties that could benefit too. Some might turn left and choose the Green Party (which may be invigorated by its new leader) or the new party being formed by Jeremy Corbyn.
Another option is they turn right and vote for the Reform Party. Of these newer options, it is this party that is gaining most news coverage despite having its own fair share of scandals and U-turns, not to mention its policies fuelling social division.
It got a further boost recently when Conservative MP and shadow cabinet member Danny Kruger defected to it. Some in the charity sector may remember Kruger’s previous positive comments on the sector. In 2020, he wrote a report that made a number of recommendations to strengthen the sector as it recovered from the Covid-19 pandemic. Prior to this, he worked on the government’s Civil Society Strategy in 2018. He also founded and ran charities before his political career.
Could he continue to be a voice for the sector from Reform’s ranks? Time will tell, but the party’s supporters, according to data collected earlier this year by nfpResearch, appear sceptical about charities. Only 29% of Reform voters felt that UK charities “are representative of people like me” and only 49% trust charities (compared with 62% of the overall public).
Tristan Blythe is editor of Charity Finance
