The Guardian
13 March 2025
‘People want change’: voter anger opens door for Reform in key Labour seats
“Labour used to be the party of the working class. I haven’t got a clue what it is now,” was how Richard, a retired welder, described his feelings towards Keir Starmer’s fledgling government.
That response would be sobering anywhere, but more so for the fact he was speaking as part of a focus group in Merthyr Tydfil, the parliamentary constituency of Labour’s founder and the prime minister’s namesake, Keir Hardie.
Richard wasn’t alone in his views. This week, More in Common conducted four such groups in Merthyr Tydfil and Dudley – the former held by Labour for a century, the latter a “red wall” seat Labour lost in 2019 and regained in last year’s landslide. With projections suggesting both seats could be won by Reform UK, we wanted to understand what was driving Nigel Farage’s party’s momentum and how real any surge could be.