What are Labour figures proud of this year – and what are their hopes for 2026?

Over the last 12 months, Labour has achieved a great deal in office, from passing the Employment Rights Act and scrapping the two child benefit cap to rolling out free breakfast clubs across the country. Cabinet ministers, senior Labour figures and some of our team have reflected on some of their proudest achievements of 2025 – and what they are looking forward to in the year ahead.

Lucy Powell, Deputy Leader of the Labour Party

Becoming Labour Deputy Leader wasn’t even vaguely on my radar. It’s been a big surprise but a huge honour to have been elected by members. I feel a big responsibility to hold such an historic and important role in the Labour Party, especially in the times we are in.

I’m a progressive politician, our worldview is built on the hope we can change things for the better. That’s why we all joined the Labour Party. To be part of something bigger.

We’ve done some big Labour things this year including the last few weeks, scrapping the two child benefit cap – lifting half a million children out of poverty, a new national mission to end homelessness, passed the Employment Rights Act – birthed by the whole labour movement working together.

In 2026, I want the Labour family to come together and shout about these achievements, taking our argument that progressive politics can make a difference to the doorsteps and out around the country, challenging the hate and division we see, and delivering on the promises we made to the public when we won that big election victory.

To tackle the politics of hate and division we face, we must all come together, united.

Anna Turley, Chair of the Labour Party

My proudest achievement has to be becoming Chair of the Labour Party. It has been one of the greatest honours of my life to have been asked by the Prime Minister to help steer our great party through the challenges ahead.

Since I became Chair, I’ve been working closely with the Prime Minister, the wider government, and Labour activists across the country to make sure we demonstrate to the British people the work we’re doing to fix our NHS, help families with the cost of living, and make sure working people can have real pride in their local area again.

I’m looking forward to meeting as many Labour members and supporters as possible right across the country, as we take the fight to the opposition on the doorstep and fight the key elections taking place across England, Scotland and Wales. We’ll be taking Labour’s ambitious plan for national renewal to as many doorsteps as possible and using every opportunity possible to expose the opposition parties for what they are: parties without a plan who would block the change we’re bringing to Britain at every opportunity. Looking forward to seeing you on the campaign trail soon!

Hollie Ridley, General Secretary of the Labour Party

For me, it has to be helping our Labour MPs and the Labour Government start delivering the fantastic Pride in Place programme. This is such a good example of how we’re delivering what we promised at the general election: making sure local people really have a say over what happens in their local area. Over 250 local areas are set to benefit from millions of pounds of investment and local people themselves will decide how the money is spent. That’s Labour values in action. And on top of the vital work we’ve done to cut waiting lists and cut the cost of living, it’s making a real difference to people’s lives right across Britain.

I can’t wait to get back out on the Labour doorstep right across England, Scotland and Wales alongside Labour members and supporters ahead of next year’s elections. Next year, we’ll be firmly focused on making sure as many people as possible feel the real benefits of the change the Labour Government is delivering.

Whether it be getting more money into working people’s pockets, bringing NHS services closer to home, or investing in areas the Tories left behind, I know Labour members across the country will be engaging with their local communities about the real difference Labour is making.

Darren Jones, Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister

My personal highlight was setting up the Better Futures Fund in the Spending Review. It is the largest fund of its kind in the world – and will match external investment with public money, to help kids from disadvantaged backgrounds get a good start in life, up to a total of £1 billion.

Growing up on a council estate in Bristol, I was lucky. There were amazing local community organisations that gave me opportunities I may not have otherwise had. But it shouldn’t be down to luck. Every child’s future should be defined by their potential, not their postcode. It’s exactly the kind of thing you come into politics for and the difference being in government really makes.

More recently, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about how we can shake-up how Whitehall works and hardwire innovation into the system. That’s my priority for 2026.

Wes Streeting, Health Secretary

There’s a long road ahead, but it has to be starting to finally get waiting lists down.

Liz Kendall, Technology Secretary

My hope for 2026 is building the jobs of the future in the places where people most need them.

Douglas Alexander, Scottish Secretary

I’m really proud that this government’s plans will lift 550,000 children out of poverty. Lifting children out of poverty is in our DNA as a party. It’s what we do.

But this year, I also have to mention Scotland qualifying for the World Cup for the first time in 28 years. For me, our qualification stirs strong emotions – I was there in Paris in 1998 with my dad, the last time Scotland qualified for the World Cup. Now, the next generation will get to follow Scotland on the biggest sporting stage.

In 2026, I’m looking forward to the Scotland team making history by lifting the World Cup for the first time, of course. There are crucial elections for us in 2026 in Scotland. In less than five months’ time, Scotland faces a clear choice: a third decade of John Swinney’s and SNP failure, or a new direction with Scottish Labour. I’ll be working with the fantastic Scottish Labour team to make Anas Sarwar our next First Minister.

Alison McGovern, Local Government and Homelessness Minister

My proudest achievement of the year was being part of a government that will get 550,000 children out of poverty. My hopes for 2026 are for fewer children in temporary accommodation – and for Liverpool Football Club to win.

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Emma Burnell, Editor of LabourList

I cannot tell you how proud I am to have become Editor of LabourList. It really has been a long held dream of mine. But more than the pride I have in my own position, I am so delighted to have found an organisation in extraordinary shape and journalists of the highest calibre to work with. 

My somewhat hectic start (The deputy leadership contest was triggered in my first week!) was smoothed out immeasurably by the invaluable help, support and advice of Ellie Ormsby, Daniel Green and our board (with an honorable mention for Luke O’Reilly who left us in October – I hope it wasn’t something I said!). 

We have very big plans for LabourList in 2026 which include doing a lot more video content (led by our newest team member James Tibbitts) as well as a whole new way for our loyal readers to engage with us. It’s incredibly exciting and I can’t wait to get going on it all.

Ellie Ormsby, LabourList commercial and operations manager

I joined the LabourList team earlier this year, and my proudest achievement has been delivering our biggest and best Labour Party Conference programme yet. It was fantastic to create some really interesting, dynamic, and special events for our Conference partners.

Outside of LabourList, I serve as a Labour councillor and Cabinet Member at Westminster City Council. With all-important elections coming up next year, my ambition for 2026 is to retain my seat in Lancaster Gate ward—the most marginal ward in the country—and keep control of the Council so we can continue delivering on our promises to build a Fairer Westminster. Any London-based LabourList readers are very welcome to join me on the doorstep in the New Year!  

Paul Nowak, TUC General Secretary and LabourList columnist

My proudest achievement of the year is the Employment Rights Act. Is it perfect? No. Is it the biggest and most significant upgrade of workers’ and union rights in decades? Absolutely.

Millions will get rights to sick pay from day one from this April, and that alone is something to celebrate. And for the first time in my trade union lifetime, a government repealed anti-union legislation. That’s testament to years of union campaigning and the difference Labour in government can make.

My hope for 2026 is that the government has a relentless focus on driving up living standards. It’s time to reverse a decade and a half of real-terms economic stagnation for working people. Linked to that, we need to make sure 2026 is the year unions seriously grow their membership.

Ben Cooper, Head of the Fabian Housing Centre and LabourList columnist

My proudest achievement was establishing the Fabian Housing Centre, a multi-year research and policy programme to help shape the implementation of the government’s housing strategy and the broader housing debate across the UK. Working with colleagues, the Centre has an exciting programme of work for 2026 which includes planning reform, first-time buyers, renters’ rights, construction skills, and Scottish housing policy.

I hope we see continued progress on the number of new homes started in England, which showed encouraging signs of improvement in 2025 thanks to the government’s reforms. There is still a long way to go to meet the 1.5 million new homes target, so I hope for further reform to ensure good quality homes are built quicker in every part of the country.

Stella Tsantekidou, LabourList columnist

My proudest achievement this year was seeing my Substack rank in the ‘top 50 rising’ in the world politics category globally. 

My hopes for 2026 are to finish my book proposal and to get British political dialogue to acknowledge that there are no perfect policy solutions, but inaction is the worst option of all.

Tom Belger, LabourList columnist and former editor

Professionally, I’m proud of the LabourList team’s work taking the pulse of our audience and amplifying your views in public debate while I was Editor, through the polling partnership I, Dan, Ellie, Luke, James, David and now Emma have worked on with Survation. It’s vital members’ views aren’t forgotten – and I know ministers are now definitely reading them.

Politically,  I’m most proud of Labour making history passing workers’ and renters’ rights reforms (not that it was anything to do with me).

Personally, of course I’ve felt proud and 100% responsible for all the amazing things my toddler’s done, and shocked and it-couldn’t-possibly-be-my-fault about the less amazing things.  His recent first compliment in three years, ‘you look nice, mama. You look nice, dada’, for instance, must be a real testament to our parenting. But his more regular comments along the lines of ‘my new [clothing] is nice and warm – yours isn’t, daddy’ must be an aberration.

As the bleak book I’m hoping to get for Christmas suggests, I’m keen to keep on learning and writing more about the darker side of Britain’s labour market, and how policy is or isn’t fixing problems in the world of work. 

I hope to dig into the mood in some key electoral battlegrounds too, and spend time listening to voters’ experiences of how politics and policy has or hasn’t worked in their own lives.

Personally I’m hoping to eat better, exercise more, sleep more and other goals that might just end up in my New Year’s resolutions for 2027 too.

As for the government, I’m hoping the government can be bolder on its storytelling on areas like the employment rights reforms so workers actually hear about them, bolder implementing more of Labour’s pre-election promises, and bolder harnessing public anger at whatever controversies emerge to pull the Overton window leftwards.

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