Labour must review trans policy to win election, Starmer told

Party needs to avoid the ‘Sturgeon trap’ and bring its stance in line with public’s, say senior MPs

LABOUR must fix its stance on trans to win the next election, Sir Keir Starmer has been told.

Senior figures within the party believe there is a need to clarify its policies on the issue and bring them closer in line with where the public are.

Nicola Sturgeon’s approach to transgender rights – which has been blamed for not only costing her the support of the Scottish Nationalist Party but also for a mass exodus of more than 40 per cent of the party’s members – has crystallised the importance of the issue, according to Labour insiders.

“In many respects she was the most successful politician of our generation and yet she was brought down by the GRA [Gender Recognition Act]. The public were in a different place to the politicians,” a Labour party source said.

Ms Sturgeon’s highly controversial gender reform Bill, which proposed allowing anyone over the age of 16 to legally change their sex without consulting a doctor, was vetoed in Westminster. The First Minister announced her resignation last month after admitting she had become a “polarising figure”.

Figures within Labour believe their policies must not fall into a similar trap whereby, “in trying to do good for a very small minority group, you inadvertently offend an awful lot of women who feel their place in society is being eliminated. You have to balance the needs of different groups.”

Sir Keir has previously pledged to change the law to allow trans people to self-declare their gender. In 2021 he promised the LGBT community that he would take similar action to Scotland on the GRA in England and Wales if elected. But it is felt that this policy could be quietly dropped between now and the next election.

Labour MPs are concerned that the party needs to “come up with an answer” to the trans question that “secures women’s rights”. The party is trying to position itself as the party of the centre ground of British politics and has identified middle-aged, suburban women as a target demographic to win over ahead of the general election.

Labour party strategists have studied polling which shows how since 2010, a gender gap in voting has emerged whereby women are, on average, more likely to vote Labour. But the polling notes that Labour’s advantage is “specifically among women under 50” while the Tories lead in women over 50.

Angela Rayner, Labour’s deputy leader, and Anneliese Dodds, the shadow women and equalities minister, have been leading the party’s efforts to appeal to this group of older women with a series of policies on issues ranging from coping with menopause in the workplace to breast cancer waiting lists.

Ms Dodds recently gave a keynote address at the Women’s Institute in London, the first Labour figure to speak there since Tony Blair’s infamous address more than two decades ago that resulted in a slow clap.

The Labour Party is also looking to toughen its stance on issues such as immigration and climate change.