Arresting and amusing statistic from @christabelcoops.bsky.social here: a majority of voters (52 per cent) believe that Angela Rayner was born into a middle class or upper class family, rising to more than 60 per cent of Green voters:
Only 14% of the public believe Keir Starmer was born into a working-class family.
In fact, our latest research suggests that voters often assume politicians come from more privileged backgrounds than they really do.
The immediate temptation may be to see Makerfield as evidence that Labour can win back voters from Reform by signalling a move rightwards.
This piece looks at why that conclusion would be wrong.
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A remarkable Labour win last night. The real lesson of Makerfield?
In our latest substack, Christabel Cooper explains why rebuilding a larger progressive coalition, while persuading more transactional voters that Labour can stand up for them and deliver in office is the path to beating Reform.
Christabel Cooper, Director of Research, ThinkLabour