King's College London

Labour supporters today still look back fondly on the New Labour governments of 1997–2010 – but most think Andy Burnham’s government is performing about as well as or better, according to a new study.

Among Labour supporters who say they remember New Labour, six in 10 (60%) feel it was good for the UK, compared with around one in 10 (11%) who feel it was bad.

But that fondness isn’t shared by the public as a whole, who are much more divided on New Labour’s record, with a third (34%) of those who remember it saying it was good and the same proportion saying bad (34%) – with many saying neither or don’t know (32%).

And when it comes to the current government, a majority (56%) of Labour supporters say it's doing about as well (26%) or better (30%) at running the country than New Labour did – against 31% who say it's doing worse.

Again, the wider public are less convinced, with a greater share saying Andy Burnham’s government is doing worse (44%) than about the same (23%) or better (14%).

Reform UK supporters take the dimmest view of the current government’s performance relative to New Labour’s, with 63% saying it’s doing worse – more than double the share who think it’s doing the same (22%) or better (9%).

Carried out by the Policy Institute and the Strand Group at King’s College London ahead of Labour party conference, the research is based on a nationally representative survey of 3,750 UK adults conducted with Opinium between 7 and 13 August 2026.

It reveals that in many areas the public are relatively divided on New Labour’s impact, although different parties’ supporters often take very different views:

• Trust in politics – the public's harshest verdict on New Labour, with 38% saying it was bad for trust, versus 24% saying good. Reform supporters are the most damning (59% bad), followed by Conservatives (48%). It's also New Labour's weakest area among its own supporters, though they are still far more positive (46%) than negative (18%).
• The economy – 34% bad vs 30% good. A majority of Reform supporters (54%) and four in 10 Conservatives (43%) say bad, while Labour supporters are four times more likely to say good than bad (58% vs 14%), and Lib Dems lean positive too (38% vs 24%).
• Britain's standing in the world – 33% good vs 27% bad. Labour (59% vs 10%), Lib Dem (42% vs 18%) and Green (34% vs 26%) supporters all lean positive, while Reform supporters are nearly twice as likely to say bad (46%) than good (24%).
• The NHS – 32% good vs 29% bad, the narrowest split of any area, with Labour supporters (60% good) and Lib Dems (42%) most positive.

How well the public estimate support for New Labour

The survey also tested how accurately the public gauge support for New Labour, finding errors in both directions:

• People are relatively accurate in guessing New Labour’s overall popularity, with a median guess that 40% of the public would say it was good for the country, only slightly higher than the reality of 34%.
• But people underestimate how fondly Labour's own supporters view it: the public’s median guess is that 47% of those who intend to vote Labour would say New Labour had a positive impact, when in reality 60% do.

Professor Bobby Duffy, Director of the Policy Institute at King’s College London, said:

“Nearly two decades after it left office, New Labour still divides the country. The public are split almost evenly on whether it was good or bad for Britain, and how you remember it depends heavily on how you vote now. Reform and Conservative supporters are strongly negative, while Labour, Lib Dem and Green voters look back far more warmly. But the more telling story for Labour, as it gathers for its annual conference, is that its own supporters aren't simply lost in nostalgia: most think the current government is actually matching or beating New Labour's record.”

Professor Jon Davis, Director of the Strand Group at King’s College London, said:

“One of the most striking findings from this research is on the NHS. The public today are almost evenly split on whether New Labour was good or bad for it, yet that's not how people judged it at the time: British Social Attitudes data shows satisfaction with the NHS rising steadily through the 2000s to a peak of around 70% by 2010, among the highest levels ever recorded. It's a powerful reminder of how far our memory of a government's record can drift from how we rated it at the time.”

 

Study details
Fieldwork was carried out by Opinium across 7-13 August 2026, consisting of a nationally representative sample of 3,750 UK adults aged 18+ weighted by age, gender, education, region, ethnicity, working status, political attention, 2024 GE vote and 2016 EU vote in order to reflect the profile of the UK population.