Breathe Easy: How Labour Can Win the Politics of Clean Air

Clean air is an issue that connects deeply to core labour values – from protecting public health, reducing health inequalities and improving workplace conditions to giving children the best start in life and improving the places people live.

For too long, however, tackling air pollution has been seen either as a low priority or a politically toxic issue for the party to build a robust political narrative at a national level, leaving local councillors and mayors to take up much of the responsibility – and political flak – without being provided the required political cover.

This report, based on polling carried out for LCEF by the Good Growth Foundation, highlights that air pollution is not only a publicly salient and cross-partisan issue that people want to see more done to address, but that action carries political benefits for Labour – particularly among the progressive switcher groups who Labour need to win back ahead of the 2029 General Election and local and mayoral elections in between.