What was claimed
Labour has only ever won three majorities.
Our verdict
That’s not correct. Labour has won nine majorities, including four which were won while the party was in opposition.
How many majorities has Labour won?
In his first major interview since announcing his resignation the Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer claimed: “We've only ever won three majorities, and we won a majority in 2024, therefore 1945, 1997 and 2024 go down as three of the most successful elections in the history of the Labour party.”
This isn’t right. Labour has won a total of nine majorities, under four different leaders.
It’s not clear from his comments whether Mr Starmer was including his own majority in 2024 in his list of Labour’s three majorities—he appeared to mention it separately in the first part of his claim, but then included it in his list of Labour’s three most successful elections.
Before Labour’s most recent election victory in 2024, Labour had only won a majority from opposition on three occasions—in 1945 and 1997, as well as in 1964, which Mr Starmer did not mention.
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The party has also won majorities while already in government on five occasions—under Clement Attlee in 1950, twice under Harold Wilson in 1966 and 1974 and twice under Sir Tony Blair in 2001 and 2005.
We’ve contacted Number 10 for comment and will update this article if we receive a response.