If Labour is still grappling with that lack of faith in politics — a recent YouGov poll found just 24 percent of Brits trust Keir Starmer — there’s also an apparent keenness in the governing party not to bang on about the Tories’ pandemic failures.
Once the acute phase of the pandemic was over, Covid-19 was no longer “front and center” of Labour’s attention, a former adviser to the party said. Instead, the then-opposition swiftly came to believe that highlighting the economic failures of Johnson’s chaotic successor Liz Truss was more fertile electoral ground.
“We appeared to have our act together for the first time in many years,” the adviser said. They argued that talking about the pandemic and Partygate alone were not enough to guarantee an election victory. “The test is on the opposition to be ready for that moment when it comes.”
But while Covid-19 quickly fell away as a “top-of-mind issue” for voters too, according to Ipsos pollster Gideon Skinner, Brits “still think [it] is having an ongoing impact on the state of the country.”
As the inquiry continues its long work, groups including the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice continue to push for change.
In a punchy report last year, the campaigners pitched 22 asks of the government in the hopes of improving readiness for the next pandemic. That includes creating a secretary of state for resilience and civil emergencies, a U.K. Standing Scientific Committee on Pandemics to advise on risks and preparedness, and a new National Office for Resilience.
