The Student Room Group

Why have British people turned their back on Labour?

Labour have suffered their worst election result since 1987.

What has happened since the early 90's and early 2000's for people to turn their backs on voting for the Labour party?



Ed Miliband stepped down as Labour leader on Friday after the party’s worst general election defeat since Margaret Thatcher’s final victory in 1987.“This is not a speech I wanted to make,”

he said in a Westminster hall just after noon on Friday. “I take absolute and total responsibility for the result.”

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/263584b0-f4fd-11e4-abb5-00144feab7de.html#axzz3Za0fJ5hB

Scroll to see replies

I do not think Ed Miliband is completely to blame for the result at all.

The Conservatives bashed Labour by blaming them for the financial crisis in Gordon Brown's term( especially the letter that said 'sorry we ran out of money' apparently.) That was something that was quite hard for Ed Miliband to argue against, but what he said was true; the Conservatives cannot talk about the future so they blame Labour for the past.

Ed Miliband was not the leader of the previous government that had ruined the Labour party's reputation and Conservative propaganda against the last Labour government which had an obvious detrimental effect on the Labour campaign which proved to be very difficult for Miliband to live down.

Also, I think people did not take Ed seriously enough because of his voice and his demeanour whilst eating bacon sandwiches, but I would not say that was all Miliband's fault(although he could have thought about his presentation in public a bit more.) People could not look past his slightly dorky, posh personality and look at his policies instead.

Also, Nicola Sturgeon ran a VERY strong campaign in Scotland and Labour needed Scotland to win, as many Scottish people are traditional Labour voters.

On the other hand, Labour's campaign was nowhere near as strong as the Conservatives, who used very strong techniques to turn people against Labour, Ed Miliband can be partly blamed for this. Cameron kept on emphasizing that Labour would ruin an economy that the Conservatives have built up for 5 years, and Miliband did not argue against this strongly enough, so everyone believed Cameron.

Also, I think he made a big mistake by ruling out a coalition with SNP. BIG MISTAKE.
Original post by Catholic_
Labour have suffered their worst election result since 1987.

What has happened since the early 90's and early 2000's for people to turn their backs on voting for the Labour party?



Ed Miliband stepped down as Labour leader on Friday after the party’s worst general election defeat since Margaret Thatcher’s final victory in 1987.“This is not a speech I wanted to make,”

he said in a Westminster hall just after noon on Friday. “I take absolute and total responsibility for the result.”

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/263584b0-f4fd-11e4-abb5-00144feab7de.html#axzz3Za0fJ5hB


They will come back stronger. The media do a grand job in brainwashing people . Labour need to get Prescott as leader- takes no prisoners and the people will take to him
It's all those immigrants that Labour brought in to vote for the Conservatives.

Hold on....
Original post by therealmcoy
I do not think Ed Miliband is completely to blame for the result at all.


This wasn't about Ed's ability to eat a bacon sandwich or the SNP (the Conservatives won a majority over all other parties). Miliband lost because he had nothing to say to large parts of the electorate.


Posted from TSR Mobile
(edited 8 years ago)
Reply 5
Iraq war but be fair it would have been the same if Conservatives were in power

Immigration.. oh but wait the Conservatives have only offered people false hope and empty promises on that.. they're same as Labour


The only real difference between them seems to be on fiscal policy.
Reason has prevailed
Original post by Catholic_
Labour have suffered their worst election result since 1987.

What has happened since the early 90's and early 2000's for people to turn their backs on voting for the Labour party?



Ed Miliband stepped down as Labour leader on Friday after the party’s worst general election defeat since Margaret Thatcher’s final victory in 1987.“This is not a speech I wanted to make,”

he said in a Westminster hall just after noon on Friday. “I take absolute and total responsibility for the result.”

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/263584b0-f4fd-11e4-abb5-00144feab7de.html#axzz3Za0fJ5hB


Actually the Labour party took a larger share of the vote than last time and the Conservatives gain in vote share was smaller than the Labour one. What happenened mostly has to do with the weirdness of the FPTP system and changes in the party political landscape:

The SNP took most Labour seats in Scotland, because they are concentrated just in Scotland and were the main party of opposition there anyway this wasn't a big swing in vote terms but it hit Labour hard. Outside of Scotland Labour actually gained seats.

The Lib Dems totally collapsed. I many places the race had previously been Lib Dem-Tory. With the Lib Dems out of the picture there was no effective challenge to Tory MPs.
(edited 8 years ago)
Because there was nothing Labour was doing for all the new student voters.

1. Reducing uni fees to £6000 wouldn't have made much difference. Huge debt is still huge debt.
2. Increasing minimum wage would lead to inflation that would hit students the hardest when they graduate. My graduate job next year is on a tiny £24k. I don't really want to be hit by huge inflation. Not to mention all the families who would drop below the poverty line as a result.

Labour was only really focused on the very poorest and disabled in our community. They didn't really give a damn about the early working class.

Plus Miliband's mansion with two kitchens. I'm sorry, but his lifestyle was out of touch with his policies. To me that is like the leader of the Green party living in a slaughter house, or the leader of UKIP being Polish. It just doesn't work.
Where would the working class be without the Labour Party, still in the gutter I presume. They fought for us against all the odds and their own class have turned against them. Shame on all the working class who voted Tory.
Cameron is a stronger guy that would go into Putin's room and not emerge crying like Ed perhaps would have
Original post by Keyhofi

2. Increasing minimum wage would lead to inflation that would hit students the hardest when they graduate. My graduate job next year is on a tiny £24k. I don't really want to be hit by huge inflation. Not to mention all the families who would drop below the poverty line as a result.


If you think £24k is tiny, how can you expect people to work full time and survive on only half of that? Anyone who has ever worked on minimum wage will know that it can't stay as low as it is.

But in answer to the thread title, people turned their backs on Labour because it doesn't represent them anymore. Plus a lot of people only care about themselves and don't care how many more poor people will die as a result of the Tories getting a majority.
(edited 8 years ago)
Pure THUG LIFE!

We told the polls that we were going to vote Labour and changed our minds to Conservatives. I don't know what is more thug then this!

THUGGGGGGG LIFE MAN, THUG LIFEEEEEEE!
^supporting Labour
Original post by Ritterschaft
^supporting Labour


If you are aiming at me, then sir you are WRONG.
I am blue, if you cut me i will probably bleed blue!
Percentage wise it wasn't that bad.
Original post by Magnus Taylor
Cameron is a stronger guy that would go into Putin's room and not emerge crying like Ed perhaps would have


Nonsense what has Cameron ever done that was 'strong'? Miliband braved a storm, for all his faults, a lack of resilience was never one of them.
Original post by bahjat93
If you are aiming at me, then sir you are WRONG.
I am blue, if you cut me i will probably bleed blue!


Y u say voting blue is thug lyfe then?
I thought it was more Labour turning it's back on the British people.
Original post by ritterschaft
y u say voting blue is thug lyfe then?


i didn't choose to be blue, blue chose me!

Quick Reply

Latest