Projections suggest Merthyr Tydfil and Dudley could be won by Nigel Farage’s party – but how real is the threat?

“Labour used to be the party of the working class. I haven’t got a clue what it is now,” was how Richard, a retired welder, described his feelings towards Keir Starmer’s fledgling government.

That response would be sobering anywhere, but more so for the fact he was speaking as part of a focus group in Merthyr Tydfil, the parliamentary constituency of Labour’s founder and the prime minister’s namesake, Keir Hardie.

Luke Tryl is the UK director of the research group More in Common