LabourList has a new editor – and we’re asking for your support

I first stumbled on LabourList as a scrawny teenager in the dying days of the last Labour government. Fourteen years later, it’s an incredible privilege to write that I’m its new editor.

I’m still pinching myself to be in the hot seat, and to think that if the polls hold, we could have another Labour government next year. I’ve spent most of my career as a reporter, detailing the dire effects of austerity on communities for the Liverpool Echo, and on education for Schools Week. I’ve also covered the Conservatives’ abysmal failures on Covid and Brexit as a business and policy reporter for Yahoo. Now I’m itching to cover the root problem – Britain’s politics – and not just Labour’s critique, but also the positive policy ideas it has, could or should set out to do things differently.

But will Labour’s lead hold, and how would it govern? LabourList’s role now is more vital than ever, detailing and debating every step of Keir Starmer’s bid to end the Tory era. Supporters need a proudly Labour but proudly independent platform to find not just Labour’s take on the day’s big stories, but also under-reported internal and local stories that give clues or ideas about where Labour’s headed. We need a forum for robust debate and expert insight on Labour’s direction, from and for every section of the party, in every region – and voices beyond it.

So today I’m asking for your help to elevate our coverage and impact.

If you can donate an hour’s pay a month, it makes a huge difference – as reader donations make our journalism possible. We’re keen to work with more partners within and beyond Labour too, like the great team at Labour Business who helped create my launch video. And if you have ideas to improve LabourList, share them. If you know something newsworthy, tip us off. And if you’ve something new to say, write for us. We’re your LabourList – so get in touch at [email protected].

But enough about us. The government is reportedly “ready to try to tough out” further Royal College of Nursing strikes, and hopeful other unions’ potential support can still save its pay deal. But the brave face is unconvincing – as that leftie rag the Telegraph notes, ministers’ strategy to peel off more moderate unions first lies in “tatters”. Rishi Sunak now faces nurse walkouts days before local elections, raising the chances voters punish him over a heightened sense Britain isn’t working.

Yes, Labour faces a tightrope of its own on strikes. The Conservatives may well ramp up attacks on Labour’s union links, while Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting will have raised eyebrows on the left yesterday by again warning escalated nursing strikes risk patient safety. But most voters back NHS strikes, and healthcare is usually comfortable terrain for Labour. Sunak’s Truss-style outburst on an “anti-maths mindset” today suggests he wants to talk about anything but.

Labour released timely analysis overnight suggesting 1,200 GP surgeries have closed or merged since 2015, and repeated its pledge to train 15,000 doctors a year. It doesn’t scream Attlee-style ambition, but it’s worth remembering New Labour started small on its famous 1997 pledge cards. It pledged to treat just 100,000 more patients – by cutting £100m in red tape.