What does the pledge mean?

The British model of policing asserts that the power of the police to execute their duties depends on the common consent of the public, a concept known as “policing by consent”. For policing by consent to be effective, the police require the trust and confidence of the public.

Various surveys provide information about public confidence in the police. For example the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) asks respondents if they agree they have “Overall confidence in local police”, and the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) carries out an annual survey. A more frequent monthly YouGov survey tracks the percentage of the public who believe the police are doing a good job.

While Labour’s manifesto didn’t say which of these measures it would be using to monitor progress, and our repeated attempts to gain clarity on this from the Home Office in 2024 and early 2025 were unsuccessful, in June 2025 the government’s Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee framework suggested it would be measured using annual CSEW figures on confidence in local police.

The manifesto didn’t say what the “highest levels” of confidence would be, but due to methodology changes, CSEW figures from the year ending March 2012 onwards are not comparable with earlier years.

Of the available data for between year ending March 2012 and year ending March 2024, overall confidence in local police peaked at 79% in the year ending March 2016. (Data wasn’t available for 2021 or 2022 due to the Covid-19 pandemic). We’re considering this to be the highest-level of confidence under comparable records, and therefore Labour will need to increase confidence above 79% in order for the pledge to be met.

Policing is devolved in Scotland and Northern Ireland, so this pledge applies to England and Wales.

What progress has been made?

We’re rating this pledge as “wait and see” as we don’t yet have data that covers only Labour’s time in government.

The latest CSEW data was published in August 2025 for the year ending March 2025. It shows overall confidence in the local police was 67%, but this reporting period includes the final few months of the previous Conservative government. Data for the year ending March 2026, expected in August 2026, will be our first indication of how confidence in the police has changed under Labour.

On 29 August 2025, responding to a Freedom of Information request, the Home Office told Full Fact that it would “publish a White Paper on policing reform later this year, setting out plans to deliver a number of key objectives that were set out in the Government's Safer Streets Mission, including raising confidence in policing, and to monitor progress against those objectives”.

This plan was published in January 2026, and cited CSEW confidence in local police figures.

The government has introduced a number of policies aiming to increase confidence in the police. On 10 March 2025, then-home secretary Yvette Cooper MP said the Crime and Policing Bill, which is currently being considered by Parliament, would support efforts to “rebuild confidence in policing and the criminal justice system by tackling the local crimes that most undermine our communities”.

We’re monitoring the government’s commitment to rebuild confidence in the criminal justice system separately.