Labour Criticised For Safety-First Approach To Seat Targeting Despite Poll Lead

Concerns are being raised in Labour over whether its seat targeting strategy is much too safe considering the party’s staggering poll lead.

There is no sign of polls narrowing, so the Conservatives are changing tack: candidates in unwinnable seats – mostly in the North – have been told to focus their efforts further down south. The party has given up on Boris Johnson’s 2019 coalition of voters.

But Labour has stuck to its original allocation of battleground seats. This week the party even shut off access to Contact Creator – its digital tool for registering voter intention while canvassing – in non-battleground seats where they are deemed to be campaigning too much. The move has lowered morale and infuriated those who believe it shows Labour doesn’t trust candidates.

“There is an anal retentiveness in the party that is unbelievable. The centralised dictatorship that is now closing down constituencies is something I’ve never encountered before,” said one particularly candid Labour candidate.

“Part of this comes from their failure to understand that 2019 was wholly exceptional. It was about Brexit. It was about the perceived personality of Jeremy Corbyn… 2019 should never be used as a baseline for what we’re doing in 2024,” they added.

One example being discussed in Labour circles is how Romford activists are being directed to Dagenham and Rainham. While in 2019 the Tory majority in Romford was almost 18,000, and the Labour majority in Dagenham under 300, polling suggests the former is now a possible Labour win while the latter is safe territory.

“On these polls it's a bit ridiculous that any Labour holds are battlegrounds, particularly without any demographic reasons,” one prominent Labour activist told PoliticsHome.

“There are