The party wants to seem in control. But many of its MPs have knife-edge majorities that a challenger could obliterate

Labour campaigned for 14 years to get rid of the Tories, and emerged from the general election with the biggest majority in recent history. So why, after only six months, do so many Labour supporters feel anxious? The persistently depressing polling figures and Labour’s vote dropping like a stone in many council byelections don’t help.

The harsh reality is that Labour was not elected on a wave of popularity. The first-past-the-post vote system masked Labour’s low vote share, which was just 34%. The first six months in office have also been marred by a list of policies that have unnecessarily alienated section after section of Labour support: cutting the winter fuel allowance, refusing to scrap the two-child benefit limit, denying Waspi (Women Against State Pension Inequality) women a semblance of justice and increasing tuition fees for young people. Meanwhile, the party has been largely mute on Gaza, and has given the appearance of having to be dragged to say or do anything meaningful to stop the genocide.