Voters are more patient than the Westminster village would have you believe.

Three months in and it’s the end of days for the new Labour government.

This is what the Westminster village would have you believe.

Off the back off a ‘change election’, expectations are always going to be high. But delivery takes time in government.

So has the new government failed to capture the moment – or are voters willing to give the new Prime Minister and his team time to deliver?

As part of our work exploring Labour’s ‘Hero Voters’, we have been running focus groups to understand their take on the first 100 of Labour’s first term in office for 14 years.

For more on who Labour’s 'Hero Voters' are and why they matter, read this by my colleague Keir Cozens.

So what’s the outlook? In recent days we have heard from the groups of Hero Voters that we identify as ‘Optimistic Globalists' and ‘Measured Realists’. Here’s what we found.

‘Optimistic Globalists'

Optimistic Globalists (household income of circa ￡45,000) are reporting that the cost of living crisis continues to dominate their focus BUT there is light at the end of the tunnel.

They perceive a relenting in interest rates, creating headroom in the future for some overdue disposable income – which is a visible relief to them. Free childcare hours have made a significant saving to household budgets, for families who benefit.

For this group, their ‘state of the nation’ reporting is more upbeat than we have seen for a long time and remains very individualistic. Beyond cost of living, the NHS remains the priority. No ifs, not buts, they buy it is broken and that it needs reform – not just more money.

But there is room to believe that things can get better – if not necessarily that they will.

‘Measured Realists’

For Measured Realists (household income of circa ￡28,000), things are less rosy for this group. They continue to have a pessimistic outlook on the direction of the UK and the change promised by a new Labour government has yet to materialise in their eyes.

Anxiety around cost of living is not lifting and the burden of energy and fuel prices still weighs on people's minds and wallets. This indicates that while things are improving overall across the UK, their lived experience remains challenging.

Supermarkets, large corporations and energy firms are perceived to enjoy large profit margins at their expense, fuelling feelings of unfairness and unequal distribution. Global events (COVID, Ukraine war) as explanations for high inflation are starting to wear thin.

There is a sense of lethargy and lack of willingness to work hard across the population, with fears that many are taking advantage of the welfare system. Opportunities for young people are missing.

As with the Optimistic Globalists, fixing the NHS remains a priority, behind the cost of living.

While media stories on political donations have been noticed by these groups, the jury is still very much out on the new government and its ability to deliver.

To find out more about these groups of Hero Voters, read out Labour Insights Report here.

At Stonehaven, we will be researching these groups of voters in the months ahead. If you would like to find out more about research with these groups, please get in touch.

Adam McNicholas is Senior Advisor at research and strategy consultancy Stonehaven.