Uneven ground: How to rebuild Labour's electoral coalition

Following a landslide victory in the 2024 general election, it appeared that Labour had overcome the electoral dysfunction that plagued it during the 2010s. Despite a devastating defeat to the Conservatives just five years earlier, Labour secured an astounding 411 seats, giving the party a majority of nearly 150 — an achievement built on targeting key voters in marginal seats.

Labour’s time in government, however, has proved far more challenging. Faced with a dire economic inheritance and an increasingly difficult international environment, the broad coalition assembled in 2024 has begun to fragment.

In this pamphlet, drawing on British Election Study data, James Prentice examines why Labour has struggled to hold together its 2024 coalition and sets out how a new progressive coalition can be built.