Labour leadership results: which policies have won or lost the race?

The race for the Labour Party leadership has been hotly contested, however, much of the coverage has been focused on image and personality, often to the detriment of a detailed analysis of their policies.

With voting now closed, and the results due tomorrow, it is a useful time to reflect on the perceptions and coverage of each of the candidates.

Between May and August 2015, alva tracked over two million discussions related to the leadership debate and we have compiled a unique report on the four leadership candidates. We investigate:

• How do the candidates compare across a number of key policies?
• What are the policies that are generating the most attention?
• Which policies are getting overlooked?
• Who is winning the debate in the areas that matter?

 The report also takes a detailed look at the perceived strengths and weaknesses of each candidate’s policies:

The headline findings are:

• The Economy, Public Services and Welfare have dominated discussions of the 4 candidates
• Relatively little attention has been paid to Tax, Business and Housing
• The candidates are ranked Jeremy Corbyn, Andy Burnham, Yvette Cooper and Liz Kendall by overall sentiment
• Corbyn has strong advocacy around his policies on the Economy, Public Ownership and Defence
• Andy Burnham has differentiated himself on Housing, Tax and Public Services, but is seen as weak on the Economy and Defence
• Welfare is the most negatively viewed issue, with only Liz Kendall netting positivity in this area and albeit marginally

Download the full report for an unbiased look at the perceptions for each candidate.