Winning 150: UNDERSTANDING LABOUR’S TARGET SEATS

Winning 150 examines the challenge facing the Labour party in the next election by painting a statistical picture of the 150 non-Labour seats where the party came closest to winning in the 2019 election. With Labour needing to gain 123 seats to have a majority of one, this is the pool of constituencies which might become Labour’s target seats.

Analysis of the 150 potential target seats shows the party must appeal to a very broad range of people and win seats across the length and breadth of the country.

Key findings include:

• The ‘Red Wall’ is not enough, Labour will have to look far beyond just trying to win back traditional seats it lost in the 2010 – 2019 elections.
• The ‘Blue Wall’ is little more than ‘icing on the cake’. Labour’s path to victory does not lie in traditional Tory seats that voted remain.
• Labour must focus on towns. Particularly those that are autonomous and not attached to a larger urban area.
• Labour must also win back support in Scotland with a strong offer that combines devolution and unionism.