Labour: Chris Leslie promises 'goodies' to calm election fears He claimed that David Cameron had presided over the longest period of falling living standards of any prime minister on record, with wages declining in real terms for 36 out of 37 months. However, at the launch of a research paper on living standards he was dogged by questions on Labour's weak performance. Asked why Labour was not further ahead in the polls when the cost of living was rising, Mr Leslie accepted that his party needed to do more. "It is partly to do with the government's failure, partly to do with what we need to offer as we get closer towards a manifesto," he said. But don't forget we are still nearly two years away from that general election and we have got party conference and all sorts of things coming up with lots of goodies in store. Mr Leslie accepted that Labour had to focus more intensely on issues such as the cost of living facing families across Britain. He insisted that there was time for the party to turn its fortunes around. "This is a very long parliament and we have still got a long way to go," he said. Everybody is anxious and keen to make sure that we win the general election. And we are as well. We are very keen to have an offer and to develop that offer over the months ahead.