Labour and Conservative state of UK politics could be breaking down - The Yorkshire Post says

WHEN members of Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour Party celebrated their general election victory last year there were plenty, even in supporting ranks, who were quick to caution that the comfortable win was not in the same vein as their forebears’ landslide triumph in 1997.

In 2024, the feeling that ‘things can only get better’ might have inspired the electorate, but not with the positivity promised by the D:Ream song – particularly amid an economic bellyache which could not be remedied with hopeful messaging. This time it was with a sense not just that things could only get better, but that the other options had been well and truly exhausted.

Meanwhile, many were perturbed by the gains of the Reform UK party. Ten months on, Nigel Farage will be enjoying this week’s headlines, reporting his party’s good health in the predictive polls ahead of Thursday’s local and mayoral elections.

The old battle of right versus left has been breaking down among voters for decades, but perhaps now is the time that projections made some years ago are finally coming true: that the binary Conservative and Labour state of UK politics is also being dismantled, as Reform are forecasted to make gains at the expense of both the two main parties.

Only time will tell, of course, but a report today warns Labour that if it does not bring about inclusive growth across the North, then Reform’s rise will continue beyond the results later this week.

The polls will be a huge test for Sir Keir, who has said: “Most governments after a general election face a tough set of local elections at the first opportunity afterwards, and of course, we’ve had to take tough but right decisions.”

For those facing the brunt of those choices – or who like they are – perhaps their own decision at the ballot box will not be so tough.