Reform UK leader Nigel Farage is causing quite the stir in the Labour camp (Image: Getty)
Labour MPs have set up a pressure group to focus on the threat posed by Nigel Farage‘s Reform UK.
The informal caucus includes members from seats where Reform came second in the 2024 general election.
The group is understood to have been meeting on a regular basis in Parliament.
It aims to identify ways to better promote Labour’s work on areas like migration and crime amid concerns in some quarters that the Government’s political messaging is not cutting through.
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They are calling for more investment in transport and infrastructure in the North of England, where Reform outperformed the Tories in dozens of seats.
One of the MP’s told Sky News it is an “important signal of where things are headed”.
They said they were not afraid to “call a spade a spade”, adding: “We’re a fearless bunch.”
Another Red Wall MP said a key area of concern was that Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ push for economic growth has been focused too heavily on wealthier areas in the south.
Pointing to her announcement of funding for transport links between Oxford and Cambridge as well as backing for the expansion of Heathrow Airport, they said: “That has no effect whatsoever on the red wall.
“It’s not going to create growth in the forgotten areas where Reform are more likely to be second.”
Labour fears over Reform come after it topped a national poll for the first time last month, while Sir Keir Starmer‘s party has plummeted.
The right-wing party secured 26% of the vote in a Find Out Now survey in January.
The rebranded Brexit Party also came first in a YouGov poll the week at 25%, with Labour on 24% and the Conservatives at 21%.
A Labour source said: “Groups of MPs meet all the time about lots of different issues. Labour MPs are rightly concerned about Nigel Farage‘s plans to make people pay to access NHS services and will carry on taking the fight to them and other opposition parties in parliament and at the ballot box.”
Nigel Farage Sparks Labour Panic as MPs Set Up New Group to Tackle Reform UK Threat
Nigel Farage’s growing influence has forced Labour MPs to confront a political challenge that could reshape Britain’s electoral landscape. The threat posed by Reform UK has become a major concern for Labour politicians, particularly those representing constituencies where traditional loyalties have weakened and voters are increasingly willing to consider alternatives.
The scale of that concern became clear in February 2025, when Labour MPs established an informal group dedicated to responding to Reform UK’s growing popularity. The move followed polling that showed Farage’s party competing directly with Labour for support and, in some surveys, moving ahead of the governing party.
The initiative raised important questions about Labour’s strategy, its relationship with voters outside its traditional strongholds and its ability to deliver the economic improvements it promised. It also highlighted a wider transformation in British politics: the growing difficulty of relying on the historic Labour-Conservative divide to determine electoral outcomes.
Although creating a parliamentary group does not prove that Labour is in panic, it demonstrates that MPs have recognised the need to develop a more coordinated response to Reform.
Labour MPs organise to confront Farage’s challenge
According to Sky News and The Independent, the informal group established in February 2025 brought together Labour MPs representing constituencies where Reform UK had finished second in the July 2024 general election.
The group was intended to help MPs coordinate their response to Farage’s party, identify issues resonating with voters and make Labour’s own policies more visible. Members were particularly concerned about migration, crime, economic development and the perception that the government was failing to deliver tangible improvements in local communities.
One concern was that Labour’s economic-growth strategy appeared too focused on prosperous areas in southern England. MPs representing constituencies in northern England argued that infrastructure investment and economic opportunities needed to reach communities that had felt overlooked for years.
Their argument was straightforward: announcing national economic ambitions would not be enough if voters in former industrial areas could not see how those ambitions would improve their own lives.
The group was therefore not simply about attacking Farage. It also reflected disagreements within Labour about how the government should communicate its priorities and distribute the benefits of economic growth.
Sky News reported that the initiative was intended to concentrate on the Reform challenge rather than serve as an organised rebellion against the prime minister. Labour sources also insisted that MPs routinely formed groups around political issues.
Nevertheless, the creation of a dedicated caucus showed that Reform’s rise had become a practical concern for Labour’s parliamentary representatives. Sky News reported on the group on 4 February 2025.
Why Reform has become a problem for Labour
Farage’s political message draws on several issues that have created difficulties for successive governments.
Immigration is among the most prominent. Reform argues that Britain needs much tighter control over its borders and a more decisive response to irregular migration, including small-boat crossings across the English Channel.
The party has also criticised taxation, public spending, government bureaucracy and the performance of public services. These themes allow Reform to appeal to voters who believe that established politicians have failed to address persistent problems.
For Labour, the difficulty is that many of these concerns cannot be dismissed as the exclusive territory of one political party. Voters worried about housing, local services, employment or immigration may have supported Labour in the past but now want evidence that the government is capable of producing meaningful change.
Farage’s strategy is to connect these concerns to a broader argument about political trust. Reform presents itself as an alternative to parties that have governed Britain for much of its modern political history.
Labour, by contrast, must defend its record in office while persuading voters that its policies will produce improvements over time.
That is a more difficult task than campaigning from opposition. An opposition party can highlight government failures without bearing direct responsibility for resolving them. A governing party must explain not only what has gone wrong, but what it is doing about it and when the public can expect results.
The Red Wall remains central to the contest
The political importance of Labour’s response becomes particularly clear in the so-called Red Wall: constituencies across northern England and the Midlands where Labour historically enjoyed substantial support.
The 2024 general election demonstrated that Labour could win a large parliamentary majority, but the electoral map also revealed opportunities for Reform. Farage’s party finished second in 98 constituencies, including 89 seats won by Labour, according to figures cited in The Independent’s February 2025 report.
That result gave Reform a potential platform for future advances. Finishing second does not guarantee that a party will win a constituency at the next election, but it can identify places where a relatively modest change in voting patterns could have significant consequences.
Labour MPs representing these seats have particular reasons to pay attention. Their constituents may be concerned about economic insecurity, the condition of public services, immigration or whether politicians in Westminster understand the problems facing their communities.
Some of these voters have supported different parties at different elections. Others may be considering Reform for the first time.
Labour cannot assume that previous support will automatically return simply because the Conservatives are unpopular or because the government has announced new investment.
To retain these voters, the party needs to demonstrate that its economic plans will benefit local communities, create opportunities and address concerns about public safety and immigration.
Reform, meanwhile, must show that it can offer practical answers rather than rely solely on dissatisfaction with the government.
The battle over immigration and public services
Immigration has become one of the clearest dividing lines between Labour and Reform.
Farage has consistently argued for a tougher approach, presenting border control as a test of whether the government can enforce its own rules. Reform has also used the issue to criticise the handling of asylum applications and the use of accommodation for people awaiting decisions.
Labour has sought to distinguish its approach by emphasising border enforcement, action against criminal smuggling networks and changes to the management of the asylum system.
The political challenge is that immigration involves multiple questions: control of irregular arrivals, legal migration, labour-market needs, asylum obligations and the speed of administrative decisions. Measures addressing one area do not necessarily resolve the others.
Voters may judge the government on whether crossings decline, asylum decisions become faster and the system appears fair and effective. Reform will continue to argue that stronger action is required.
Public services present another important battleground. The NHS, in particular, remains a major concern for voters across political divides.
Labour has criticised Reform’s openness to different healthcare funding arrangements, arguing that the party’s proposals could create risks for the principle of access to treatment. Reform, for its part, has argued that the health service needs changes to improve efficiency and outcomes.
The debate highlights the importance of examining specific policies rather than relying on campaign slogans. Voters need to understand how proposals would affect access to treatment, waiting times, staffing, funding and the financial burden on households.
For Labour, defending the NHS means demonstrating that its own plans can improve the service. For Reform, challenging Labour means explaining what changes it would make and how those changes would be funded.
Labour’s economic strategy faces scrutiny
The disagreements inside Labour about regional investment reflect a wider challenge facing the government: how to demonstrate that economic growth will translate into better living standards.
In the February 2025 reporting, Labour MPs involved in the new group expressed concern that investment decisions, including transport projects in southern England, were not sufficiently addressing the needs of areas where Reform was gaining support.
Their argument was not necessarily that investment in the south should stop. Rather, they wanted greater attention paid to communities that believed they had missed out on economic opportunities.
That debate remains relevant whenever governments promise growth. National economic figures can improve without every region experiencing the same benefits. A government can announce infrastructure projects while some communities continue to struggle with poor transport connections, limited employment opportunities or declining local services.
Labour’s political challenge is therefore both economic and communicative. It must deliver improvements while making clear how its policies affect particular communities.
The government’s budget decisions will also be scrutinised for whether they provide meaningful support to households and businesses. Economic pressures, limited public finances and demands for better services can make it difficult to satisfy every expectation.
If voters believe that progress is too slow, Reform can use that dissatisfaction to reinforce its argument for a change of direction.
But the reverse is also true: if Labour can demonstrate visible improvements in living standards and public services, it can challenge the idea that only a new political movement can deliver change.
Is Labour changing its strategy?
The formation of the parliamentary group was one indication that Labour was seeking a more focused response to Reform. The reporting at the time also described efforts to help MPs understand which messages were resonating with voters who were considering Farage’s party.
That suggests the challenge is not simply to produce more forceful criticism of Reform. Labour must understand why some voters are attracted to its opponent and determine whether its own policies address their concerns.
There is a difference between persuading existing supporters to remain loyal and winning back people who feel ignored by the political system.
For some voters, the issue may be immigration. For others, it could be economic insecurity, the cost of living or frustration with the performance of public services. A single national message may not be sufficient to address such different concerns.
Labour also faces a strategic dilemma. Adopting tougher language on immigration might appeal to some voters but risk alienating others who prioritise different issues. Increasing public spending could help some communities but raise questions about taxation and fiscal discipline.
The party must therefore decide which policies to prioritise, how to communicate them and how to demonstrate that they are producing results.
Reform faces its own strategic choices. Its appeal depends partly on presenting itself as distinct from the established parties, but it must also show that its proposals can be implemented and that it can build a credible organisation across the country.
The wider transformation of British politics
The contest between Labour and Reform reflects a broader change in British electoral behaviour.
Traditional party loyalties have weakened, and voters increasingly appear willing to move between parties or consider alternatives. Issues such as immigration, national identity, public services and economic opportunity can now influence electoral choices in ways that do not always follow the historic Labour-Conservative divide.
The rise of smaller parties also complicates Britain’s first-past-the-post electoral system. A party can win a substantial share of the national vote without securing a corresponding number of parliamentary seats, while changes in a relatively small number of constituencies can have a significant effect on the overall balance of power.
This helps explain why Labour MPs are paying close attention to seats where Reform finished second. The national polling picture matters, but the distribution of support across individual constituencies may prove equally important.
It also means that both Labour and Reform must think beyond national headlines. Building local organisations, selecting credible candidates and understanding constituency-level concerns will be crucial to their campaigns.
A warning for Labour, but not a guaranteed victory for Reform
The establishment of a Labour group to tackle Reform UK was a clear sign that Farage’s party had become a serious consideration in Labour’s electoral planning.
It did not, however, prove that Labour was certain to lose support or that Reform was destined to win the next general election. Polls are snapshots of public opinion, and second-place finishes in constituencies are opportunities rather than guarantees.
The significance of the group lies in what it reveals about the challenge facing the governing party. Labour MPs recognised that Reform was competing for voters who might once have been expected to support Labour and that a more coordinated response was needed.
For Labour, the answer will depend on whether it can deliver visible improvements, address local concerns and explain its policies convincingly. For Reform, the test will be whether it can turn dissatisfaction into durable support and demonstrate that its proposals offer workable solutions.
Farage has succeeded in making Reform a central part of Britain’s political debate. The task now facing both parties is to convince voters that their respective programmes can deliver the country they want.
Ultimately, the next election will not be decided by the creation of a parliamentary group or by the language politicians use to describe their opponents. It will depend on voters’ assessments of performance, credibility and the alternatives available to them.
Labour’s decision to organise against Reform shows that the contest is being taken seriously. Whether that response is enough will depend on what the government delivers—and on whether Farage can persuade voters that his party is ready to do something different.