Shortly before 10am on 28 July – less than a month after Labour’s victory in the general election – a series of posts bearing the same, neat, parliamentary letter began to appear on X. Shared from the accounts of a cohort of Labour MPs – some old hands, but mostly new blood – the letter announced the creation of a new backbench caucus:; the Labour Growth Group.
Signed by some 54 MPs (although sources say the WhatsApp group now has upwards of 60 members), the letter said it is “imperative that the new government grasps the nettle and goes for growth”. It warned “failure to act will not be forgiven by the public” and urged Keir Starmer and his team to make good on their promise to grow the economy.
That a backbench group, whose aims align so closely with that of No 10 should have appeared so closely after an election is somewhat surprising. One Labour source says slightly disparagingly that the group was set up “to keep backbench MPs in check”. But looking at the letter’s signatories, this doesn’t necessarily make sense. The group is said to have been greeted favourably by No 10. One Labour source, not involved in the group themselves, described it as “basically a pro-Starmer WhatsApp group”.
Indeed, among the group are some of the rising stars of the 2024 intake. They include Satvir Kaur, who introduced Starmer ahead of his party conference speech in 2022, Chris Curtis, the former YouGov pollster and Josh Simons, who led the pro-Starmer think tank, Labour Together, up until his election. Torsten Bell – the former head of the Resolution Foundation – is also a signatory. Bell is the only member whose status as a backbencher is questionable; in July he was appointed parliamentary private secretary to the cabinet secretary, Pat McFadden.
It’s clear that Simons is, for now, the de facto leader. The comms for the group is being run by his team, and it was he who drew new members into the eventual WhatsApp group in which the letter was decided and drafted. But a formal decision on the appointment of a chair, committee and secretariat has yet to be made. With parliament currently in recess, and some MPs still in the process of actually hiring staff, it’s likely this won’t happen until the autumn. The whole group haven’t even met in person yet.
But beyond their support for the Prime Minister – there is another uniting force behind the group; a rigid conviction that the key to economic growth is to build more houses. The letter calls on the government to “start delivering on our manifesto promise, including 1.5m more homes across this parliament at the earliest opportunity”. One adviser close to the government tells me: “It has to happen. Everyone in the party knows we must deliver growth.”
Curtis, who was described by one insider as one of the group’s most “clued-up” members explains that overcoming local opposition is going to be a big challenge for the new government. “We’ve seen a lot of MPs in the past who understand the importance of economic growth,” he said, “but then when they come into contact with issues in their local constituency, they will come down on the side of not building things.” Curtis is adamant that accelerating the rate at which the country is able to build is key to driving the government’s economic mission.
But growth is far more complex than simply building more houses, and opposition is likely to come from far more corners than just disgruntled constituents. There is a wider green angle too: divisions could emerge between the group and others in the party over the need to balance growth with sustainability.
Tension has already begun to emerge over this issue. Someone close to the group’s formation explained that during the drafting of the initial letter, some were pushed to ensure multiple inclusions of the words “sustainable growth”, but this qualification did not make the final cut. “No one is saying this growth isn’t going to be sustainable,” the insider added.
There are some notable absences from the group such as Labour’s more climate-minded backbench cohort: Luke Murphy, the former head of IPPR’s Fair Transition Unit – and now chair of the Climate APPG – is not a signatory.
These tensions will likely mirror those faced by Starmer and his government. Ambitious targets for climate action (clean power by 2030) will require quick, targeted action. But this action will likely need to take place in areas which have already expressed their consternation; East Anglia where Labour won 31 seats is a hotbed of opposition to this kind of infrastructure.
Still, not doing this will, of course, be far more costly for this new government. Voters are expecting their bills to be lowered, NHS waiting lists to ease, and houses to be available by the end of this parliament. The Growth Group clearly knows this; but the exact role it will play remains unclear.
As a pro-Starmer operation, will it serve to bolster the leadership and its priorities? Or with such a voracious appetite for growth, could it become a political headache? In the midst of the summer recess, the answer to this question is difficult to discern. Perhaps in September we will have some answers.
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