While the UK Labour Party saw huge success in the recent general election, the spectre of Nigel Farage’s Reform party will be a “major threat” in the future. 

Keir Starmer has become the UK’s first Labour Prime Minister in 14 years after his party won 411 seats. 

Political journalist Andrew Pierce noted, however, that the runner-up in many constituencies was the right-wing Reform party. 

“[Mr Starmer] will be very worried about the rise of Reform UK,” he told The Anton Savage Show. 

“They've only got five MPs, but Reform was second in nearly 100 Labour constituencies in what we used to call the Red Wall.” 

Labour regained seats in northern England previously taken by the Conservative Party in 2019 – although it may be due to Reform splitting the right-wing vote in many areas. 

Mr Pierce said immigration and Brexit remain a major issue in northern areas where Reform is gaining ground – and the Labour Party must react. 

“If [Mr Starmer] doesn't deliver on immigration, you can see that Farage's reform will become a major threat, not just to the Tories, but to Labour,” he said. 

Reform on migration

While the Conservative Party has promised to reduce immigration, Reform has promised to “kill it dead”, attracting more voters. 

Mr Pierce said Labour’s first acts in Government will be addressing problems in the NHS. 

“It needs major reform, major surgery, if you pardon the pun,” he said. 

“I think they've got to bring in private solutions because it just cannot function in the way it is – we've got a waiting list of 7.5 million.” 

He noted Reform will blame increased migration for issues in the NHS, which Labour will have to be wary of. 

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer walks back after speaking to the media outside 10 Downing Street in London, 5-7-24. Image: Associated Press/Alamy

The cost-of-living crisis must also be addressed by the new UK Government, according to Mr Pierce. 

“In my view, Keir was far too risk-averse in that general election campaign, far too risk-averse,” he said. 

“I think he could have been genuinely radical in the way young Tony Blair was all those years ago back in 1997.” 

He noted there was not the same level of “excitement” when Mr Starmer went to 10 Downing Street as there was when Mr Blair did the same in 1997. 

“What it really is, it's just a great sense of relief that the Tories have gone,” he said. 

“The election wasn’t won by Labour, it was catastrophically lost by the Tories.” 

Mr Pierce said people will be less interested in what the Opposition says and more focused on a new Government. 

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