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Keir Starmer does not have enough of a plan to defeat the “existential threat” that populism poses to UK democracy and should undertake a “fundamental reset”, New Labour’s former advertising strategist Sir Chris Powell has warned.
Powell, who is the brother of Jonathan Powell, Starmer’s national security adviser, warned there were just three years to stop the “new and terrifying threat” of populists, suggesting Reform UK could represent a danger to democracy and national institutions.
Writing for the Guardian, he said: “Here in the UK, where is the urgently needed counter plan on a huge scale, to thwart and head off such an existential threat? It is simply not in place, nor does it appear to be even at the planning stage.
“We are at a very dangerous moment. We simply cannot afford to allow Reform UK to have a free run, and become established and entrenched as a credible potential government in the minds of disenchanted voters.
“The longer they go unchallenged, the more unthreatening and risk-free they will seem to voters. Just hoping that Reform UK and [Nigel] Farage implode, or that the rightwing vote will somehow fracture, is potentially suicidal for our freedom and democracy.”
His intervention comes as Starmer faces deep unhappiness within his own party about Labour’s poor poll ratings and his own personal unpopularity, while Reform has led in opinion surveys for almost a year.
The prime minister will attempt a new year push on reducing the cost of living through cuts to energy bills, interest rates and ending the two-child cap, saying that voters would start to see their lives improve in 2026.
With Farage and Reform dominant on social media, No 10 also has plans to overhaul its communications strategy to reach more voters in new ways, such as through influencers and viral videos on channels including TikTok.
A Labour party source said the government was “tackling the problems that populists exploit, in particular the cost of living”, adding: “The prime minister has many times called out the politics of division peddled by Reform and will continue to work with grassroots activists and others to win this fight.”
However, Powell, who ran the ad agency that worked on Labour’s 1997 victory, said the social media engagement had so far been “small scale” and argued the “narrative surrounding this government has more often been about its own failings and internal conflicts than the battle it faces against a populist surge”.
As part of his Winning Against Populists project with David Cowan, the founder of a data and consumer research consultancy, Powell said Starmer’s party needed to “wage and win the daily war for attention” with a goal of making sure their voice was heard when voters scrolled.
He also said Starmer needed to interact better with voters on the issues they care about and highlighted how – in the US – a Democratic governor had won in a Republican state by “relentlessly speaking out in plain language on bread and butter issues: jobs, roads, schools, prices”.
Recalling Tony Blair and his team meeting at his home for their first election planning meeting in 1995, Powell said what was needed for Starmer and Labour was a similarly “new strategy, new branding, new policy, new presentation, new organisation … this kind of no-holds-barred thinking is needed. A fundamental reset.”
Powell said the current situation in the UK was a “textbook case of an establishment party caught in the headlights, as its populist opponent expertly fills the vacuum of voter pain and disrespect”.
“Relying on containment or a rational ‘hold-your-nose’ vote is a strategy that will eventually fail. Labour needs a comprehensive action plan, now. Time is a luxury they can’t afford,” he said.
Some within Downing Street are convinced that when voters come to a choice between Starmer and Farage, those who have progressive leanings will vote to keep out Reform – even if their sympathies lie with other parties on the centre or left. However, many Labour MPs are deeply worried that this is a complacent strategy that risks underestimating Farage and Reform.
This year’s elections in Wales and Scotland, as well as locals in England, will be a test of how far Reform’s dominance in the opinion polls will translate into seats, with Starmer’s position potentially under threat if Labour suffers heavy losses.
The Guardian reported on Wednesday that Starmer would reinforce his message with a series of new year drinks receptions for Labour MPs at Chequers in an attempt to dispel angst about local and devolved elections in 2026, at which the party is expecting heavy losses.
In a barb aimed at Reform in his new year’s message, the prime minister said: “We are getting Britain back on track. By staying the course, we will defeat the decline and division offered by others.”
