1.2 – Political parties
It was reported last week in The Times that Labour’s membership roll had fallen below 250,000, which represents a fall of around 100,000 since the 2024 General Election.
In addition to this making Reform UK the largest party in the country in terms of members, it serves as an important signal of the general dissatisfaction with the party of government.
Labour’s membership ranks had swollen to over half a million in the late 2010s, thanks largely to a resurgence under Jeremy Corbyn. At the time that Keir Starmer became party leader, Labour were said to be the largest political party in Europe.
However, in recent years Labour have been particularly opaque about their membership numbers, with The Times going as far to say that the party leadership have attempted to hide its membership statistics from its own NEC for fear of leaks.
In addition to simply being bad optics for Labour, fewer members means fewer activists to help at election time, and less money for the party to spend campaigning. The latest membership statistics for the Greens and Your Party also suggest that many former Labour members have made homes elsewhere on the left of politics. The loss of particularly active local members could be a huge boost to their rivals, further compounding Labour’s woes.