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To mark the beginning of 2026, More in Common asked the British public to pass judgement on the first 18 months of Labour’s Government. Given a list of 40 policies and decisions, Britons were asked how much they had heard about each of them, and whether they reflected positively or negatively on the Government.
The below grid provides an insight into how Labour’s start to government has landed with the public, and which moments have stuck in voters’ minds.
One clear pattern emerges right away: Labour’s most popular decisions tend to (with the exception of the minimum wage rise) have lower public awareness than the more unpopular ones.
More than six months after its reversal, the decision to means-test the Winter Fuel Allowance remains one of the Labour government’s most salient and unpopular decisions, with high public awareness (85 per cent) combined with strong negative public perception of the policy.
It's clear that the change of the policy has done little to improve perceptions of the Government - Britons are considerably less likely to have noticed the U-turn than the policy itself. Similarly, Britons are far less aware of the U-turn on farmers’ inheritance tax than the tax itself, and it remains alongside Winter Fuel as one of the government’s most salient and unpopular moves. So while U-turns may risk making the government look chaotic, they often fail to reverse the damage of the original decision.
As well as pointing to the government's most visible failures, the research highlights Labour's missed opportunities - government actions that are popular with the public, but not yet widely known publicly.
Many of Labour's interventions on the cost of living have been overshadowed by unpopular decisions: the price freeze on prescriptions in the UK is viewed positively by two-thirds of the public (66 per cent), yet nearly half of Britons (48 per cent) say they have not heard anything about it.
Similarly, the freeze on train fares is a popular yet fairly unknown policy: 55 per cent say it reflects well but 38 per cent of Brits are completely unaware of the policy.
Eighteen months into Labour’s term, there is one clear standout success. The increase in the minimum wage combines both high awareness and strong approval. Almost nine in ten Britons (88 per cent) are aware of the policy, and 60 per cent say it reflects well on the government.
Notably, this is also one of Labour’s less divisive policies - with voters across the political spectrum saying that it reflects well on the Government.