Labour has become the party of Britain’s rich
New data also reveal which voters are driving Reform UK’s surge
It still pays to have working-class credentials in the Labour Party. The father of Sir Keir Starmer, Britain’s prime minister, was a toolmaker; Sir Sadiq Khan, London’s mayor, had a father who drove a bus; and the party’s former deputy leader, Angela Rayner, grew up on a council estate. But—in politics as in life—those loudest about their humble origins might just have something to prove.
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This article appeared in the Britain section of the print edition under the headline “Champagne socialists”
From the September 13th 2025 edition
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Rebellious tube drivers have less bargaining power than before
Rent-seeking meets route-planning
The BBC’s best programme loses its star
Melvyn Bragg is retiring from “In Our Time”
The new battle for Britain
Once elections were fought between left and right. Now the main fight is within these camps
Fixing Britain’s broken property-tax system will take courage
The Labour government is unlikely to go there
Blighty newsletter: Can businesses trust Nigel Farage?
Matthew Holehouse, our Britain political correspondent, gives his take on Reform UK’s annual conference
A reshuffle and a raucous conference show the misery of power
What happens when nothing matters?