Labour members think government is making progress on NHS, but divided on other manifesto pledges – poll

Labour members broadly think the government is making progress on tackling NHS waiting lists, but are divided on its record with other core 2024 manifesto pledges.

Exclusive polling for LabourList carried out by Survation found that an overwhelming majority (87%) of members believe the government is making at least some headway on bringing down waiting lists.

Half of members (50%) said some progress has been made, while around a third said a lot of progress has been achieved and 4% said the pledge has been fully delivered. Just 9% said no progress had been made on cutting waiting times, with 3% feeling the situation had gone backwards.

Bringing down waiting lists has often been cited as one of the government’s key tests to restore public trust. Statistics suggest Labour has achieved some advances here, with waiting lists in September standing at 7.39 million – down from a record high of 7.7 million in 2023 under the Tories.

But while Labour members were positive about the government’s record on the health service to date, responses were more mixed on other key manifesto promises.

A mixed message on manifesto pledges

The 2024 manifesto offered a message of ‘Change’ to voters, but polling shows that the public is yet to feel any meaningful reform – a mood also reflected among many Labour members.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has long put fiscal credibility at the heart of her messaging, yet only just over half of members (53%) think Labour has made at least some progress on economic stability.

And while a third of members (33%) believe the government has made no progress on the economy, slightly more than one in ten (13%) even said Labour is going backwards on this pledge.

Labour promised to ignite Britain’s economy to give it the fastest sustained growth in the G7. While the UK had the highest growth of the seven in the first quarter of 2025, it remains to be seen if this will be replicated longer term.

READ MORE: Cabinet rankings: Mahmood sees sharp drop in approval among Labour members

Two pledges for which less than half of members thought at least some progress was being made are on tackling criminal boat gangs and cracking down on antisocial behaviour.

One in ten members (10%) believe the government is going backwards on criminal boat gangs, and nearly four in ten think no progress has been made on the highly contentious issue.

Four in ten (40%) felt there had been little headway in combating antisocial behaviour, although 15% said they don’t know whether or not progress had been made.

The government’s record on hiring more teachers drew even more uncertainty, with more than a quarter saying they did not know either way. However, slightly more than half of members (52%) were approving of Labour’s progress on this.

Labour’s record under scrutiny

It comes as LabourList polling suggests a deep dissatisfaction in the party ranks with the direction of government, with more than half of members saying there should be a change of leader before the next general election.

Nevertheless, Labour members were a little more positive about progress with some of the party’s other manifesto commitments.

READ MORE: Starmer would lose leadership contest to Streeting, Rayner, Burnham and Miliband

Three-quarters (74%) believed the government has made advances in setting up a publicly-owned clean power company, with 6% even saying this pledge has been fully delivered with the foundation of Great British Energy.

And just over two-thirds (69%) think there has been headway in bolstering Britain’s national security. Only 17% said no progress has been made to this end, and just 6% believe Labour is going backwards on it.

Keir Starmer’s foreword to the 2024 manifesto read: “We must rebuild our country. It will not be easy. Not only because there is no quick fix to the mess the Conservatives have made.

“But also, because their failures have sapped our collective confidence that Britain can still achieve great things.”

Editor of LabourList Emma Burnell said: “The key promise of the manifesto probably wasn’t the individual measures. It was the one work in big, bold type on the cover – CHANGE. Neither the public nor Labour members have a sense that this change that they campaigned and voted for has yet been delivered.”

Damian Lyons Lowe, CEO of Survation, said: “While there is overwhelming support and a sense of delivery among the membership on reducing NHS waiting lists – a key success cited by 87% of members – the mood is notably more mixed on other issues.

“Crucial areas like economic stability, criminal boat gangs and tackling antisocial behaviour have yet to fully deliver the ‘Change’ narrative to the satisfaction of the party base, with only 20% of members expressing confidence in the government to successfully tackle and reduce crime, and only 13% agreeing that economic stability with tough spending rules should be the main priority of the new government.”

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The poll is the latest in a series of regular polls LabourList is publishing in partnership with leading pollsters Survation, a member of the British Polling Council and a Market Research Society Partner.

Survation surveyed 1,013 readers of LabourList, the leading dedicated newsletter and news and comment website for Labour supporters, who also said they were Labour Party members between November 18 and 20.

Data was weighted to the profile of party members by age, sex, region, 2020 Labour leadership vote and 2025 deputy leadership vote. Targets for weighting were drawn from the British Election Study and the results of the leadership and deputy leadership election.

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