Labour will produce campaign materials to specifically tackle threats from Reform and the Greens, LabourList can reveal.
Labour’s new general secretary Hollie Ridley told a meeting of Labour’s national executive committee last week of plans for content aimed squarely at the two smaller parties, amid concerns about the recent success of Nigel Farage’s party in the opinion polls and at council by-elections.
LabourList understands the party has also set up “task and finish groups” made up of senior staff to work on how to confront both parties.
It comes as a YouGov poll put Reform ahead of Labour for the first time on Tuesday. It also follows frustration among some members at a lack of campaign literature attacking the Greens in certain constituencies at the general election, notably Brighton Pavilion and Bristol Central, where the party won comfortably over Labour.
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If you see any Labour literature attacking Reform or the Greens, we would like to see it – email us at [email protected].
Both Reform and the Greens won a record number of seats last July, and Reform won half a million more votes than the Lib Dems. The Greens came second to Labour in 39 seats, and Reform second to Labour in 89 seats.
The Sun reported earlier this week that think tank Labour Together is “being turned into a machine to take on Reform”, with an anti-Reform database tracking what the rival party does to work out strategies to defeat them at the ballot box.
Ann Black’s report from January’s NEC meeting also said that Ridley outlined that Labour would target its resources “for maximum gain, in selected divisions and in building for the next general election”.
Black said that some of her NEC colleagues called for “ambitious twinning plans and clear message discipline”.
The NEC meeting, held last week, also saw members discuss a drop in party membership – with an average of one member quitting Labour every ten minutes over the last two months.
LabourList analysis of party figures also revealed that Labour expelled a member roughly every three days last year for backing rival parties or banned groups.
The Labour Party was approached for comment.
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