How To Win An Election How Labour's By-Election Hammering Damages Starmer
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Feb 27, 2026 
Daniel Finkelstein, Times columnist and Conservative peer, offers historical and electoral perspective. Polly Mackenzie, policy commentator, analyzes voter blocs and strategy. Sally Morgan, former Labour strategist, assesses Labour’s identity and governing trade-offs. They discuss the Greens’ surprise win, Labour’s strategic crisis, fractured party coalitions, Gaza’s electoral effect, and whether the Greens or Reform can scale nationally.
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Labour Must Choose Governing Over Campaigning
- Labour must define a coherent governing story and explain trade-offs instead of salami-slicing policies to different groups.
- Sally Morgan urges governing over campaigning and says offering clear hope and direction requires hard, honest decisions.
Time For A Change Beat Status Quo
- The by-election reflected a broader 'time for a change' mood that beat the 'better the devil you know' option, split across different demographic flavours.
- Daniel Finkelstein notes Time For A Change voters divided: green-left and socially conservative-right, reshaping outcomes.
Politics May Be Shifting To Competing Blocks
- A new 'block politics' may be emerging: left bloc (Labour/Greens/Lib Dems) versus right bloc (Conservatives/Reform), reducing cross-block switching.
- Polly Mackenzie warns this makes Labour's strategy about dominating its left block rather than reaching rightwards.