The Readout

Julian Harris: Labour’s Angry, and Wants Voters to Know It

Judging the public mood is a crucial and daunting task for politicians.
Rachel Reeves wants voters to know she’s angry about the effects of the Iran warPhotographer: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg
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“Is the Labour Party going to carry on simply saying everything is terrible?”

This question was put to then-shadow minister Chuka Umunna back in 2014 by then-BBC journalist Andrew Marr. The wording was not unreasonable; Labour’s election defeat the following year was blamed in some quarters on the fact that voters ultimately didn’t feel they were as badly off as the opposition party kept telling them they were.