Which UK newspapers support a Labour victory on the 4 July election and why?
In my 52 years in the UK, I find the 2024 UK general election is the most amazing in terms of how many newspapers and other mass media have expressed their support for a Labour victory.
It is important to see why these newspapers and other mass media support a Labour victory in the 2024 election because that predictably reflects what they and their readers would expect from a Labour government in future years.
The Sunday Times, the Financial Times, The Sun and the Economist have all urged UK voters to back Labour. The four titles, which have all previously backed the Conservatives, have called for a change of Government.
The Sunday Times said in its leader column: “The period since 2016 has been defined by political chaos that has fatally distracted the political class from those issues that matter most to voters — healthcare, schools and the economy.
“Britain now needs a radical reset. If the Tories are due a period in opposition, that can only mean a Labour government. Starmer should be praised for hauling his party back into the mainstream.”
The Financial Times also supports Labour, emphasizing liberal democracy, free trade, and an open, outward-looking Britain. They see Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour as an opportunity for a fresh start.
“The Labour party of Sir Keir Starmer is better placed today to provide the leadership the country needs…
“Much of the country hankers for a fresh start. Labour should be given the opportunity to provide it.”
The Sun announces it is switching its support to Labour on the eve of the election. After years of critical coverage, the tabloid backs Labour for the first election since 2005, saying: “It is time for a change”.
The Murdoch-owned title rejected Nigel Farage’s Reform UK, dubbing it “a one-man band which at best can win only a handful of MPs” despite policies which it said had “struck a chord with millions”.
The Economist, with an editorial article under the title “Keir Starmer should be Britain’s next prime minister” and the subtitle “Why Labour must form the next government”, asserts that “elections are about the best available choice” and it goes on:
“If we had a vote on July 4th, we, too, would pick Labour, because it has the greatest chance of tackling the biggest problem that Britain faces: a chronic and debilitating lack of economic growth”.
The Evening Standard, which backed the Conservative Party in the 2010, 2015, 2017 and 2019 elections, reversed course the day before the 2024 election and endorsed the Labour Party.
The Independent, despite its name, has endorsed Labour. They appreciate Labour’s promises of change and hope, especially in economic matters.
The online title said: “Labour promises change and offers hope. In Rachel Reeves, Sir Keir will have a chancellor seen as sound on the economy, who promises to keep a steady hand on the wheel of the nation’s finances, after the wild lane-changing of the brief – but immensely damaging – tenure of Ms Truss and Mr Kwarteng. We hope their mantra will be to be compensatory and not too confiscatory.”
Meanwhile The Guardian has backed Labour for a fourth time in a row. The Guardian’s leader column on Friday 29 June, which was published in its Saturday print edition (the biggest sale of the week) said: “Labour has climbed out of the crater of its 2019 defeat, and it stands on the brink of power with some eye-catching policies.
“On the environment, workers’ rights and housebuilding, it signals a break with the past, and a very welcome desire to save capitalism from its failures and excesses. I
“Its most popular policies are interventionist: banning junk food and creating a publicly owned green energy company. How refreshing to hear that government programmes and stronger trade unions make economies more productive and equitable.”
The Observer signalled its backing for Labour with a front-page editorial saying voters have “a historic opportunity to evict one of the worst governments this country has ever endured”.
Scotland’s Daily Record has announced it is asking its readers to vote Labour after not explicitly backing any single party at a general election since 2010.
It said in a major front page article on Tuesday 25 June: “This election is not about independence. It’s about poverty, spiralling mortgages, soaring bills, the cost of living crisis, a crashed economy, dodgy contracts, broken public services, a failed Brexit, Partygate. It’s about kicking this vile and corrupt Conservative government out of office.”
It only asked Scottish voters to vote for the SNP in regions where Labour is not strong because in such regions “a vote for the SNP is the best way to topple the Tories”.
The Daily Mirror followed The Telegraph’s Conservative endorsement by declaring itself for Labour, writing in a “Voice of the Mirror” editorial published late on Friday 24 May that “the new generation needs a Labour government more than ever”.
The Sunday Mirror wrote: “Britain deserves change after 14 years of chaotic Tory rule.”
Additionally, it’s interesting to note that substantial percentages of the readers of the newspapers that endorsed the Conservatives (for example around 40% in the case of the Daily Express readers) were willing to back Labour.
