Keir Starmer's first six months as Labour Prime Minister have been turbulent, marked by economic challenges, political missteps, and declining public support. He faces calls for a change in tone from his backbench MPs as the party grapples with a range of issues, including a struggling economy and controversial policy decisions.
For Keir Starmer and his Labour Government, the first six months in power have been far from plain sailing.
But Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves’s decision just four weeks into the new administration to end universal winter fuel payments for pensioners, meant in one stroke her party’s popularity began to burn. and a Downing Street pass for their donor, Labour peer Waheed Ali. The reaction from the Government was telling. It wasn’t a story. It wasn’t anyone’s business. Nobody had done anything wrong. But it went on for week upon painful week, while more information dripped out. Critics questioned Labour’s ability to see the world through any other lens than their own.
There has also been a prickliness to the new regime, surprised and uncomfortable at being challenged in the unrelenting way that the Tories had before them. “They fundamentally think they’re the good guys and there is a lack of imagination that people can see them differently,” one Tory MP said. Insiders complained that while there was an election plan, there was no plan for government, just a list of policies.
The choice to raise National Insurance Contributions for employers led to bewilderment from the financial services sector she had so assiduously wooed in opposition, particularly when set against pay settlements for public sector workers including train drivers. There were also sighs of relief in Government that Starmer had managed to meet President-elect Donald Trump in the run-up to the US election. A visit once the new administration is in office is being planned, as early as February.
Although Blair’s Downing Street was mocked at the time for its emphasis on targets and message discipline, it undeniably got results.
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