Waiting lists a priority

LABOUR will need to cut NHS waiting times and speak a "language of respect" to keep its voter coalition together, a major postelection survey has found.

Although Sir Keir Starmer entered Downing Street with the lowest vote share of any governing party, a study published on Monday by More in Common and UCL found even those who did not vote Labour believed the party had a "mandate for change."

Luke Tryl, executive director of More In Common, said this month's election was the latest in a series of votes that had seen the public demand a change from the status quo after the 2016 Brexit referendum and the 2019 general election.

He said: "2024 is the latest version of the electorate saying we want change, we want something different from the status quo.