Let's Talk Starmer
We’re over a year into Starmer’s premiership, and widespread yet unfair criticism is pouring in.
13/07/25
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STARMER WORKING IN NO. 10, IMAGE: NUMBER 10
It is quite something to sit down and begin to pen an article, knowing with near certainty that the majority of its readership will vehemently disagree. I may as well place my best persuasive foot forward. It’s only fair that the opposition has something to aim at.
You don’t need a political doctorate to grasp the current reception surrounding Starmer and his administration a year into office: Disappointment, dismay, and for some, even loathing. The pendulum could not have swung further from their rapturous victory in the 2024 General Election; Starmer’s Labour have shifted from the bastions of reasonable governance to being labelled traitorous in the eyes of the many.
Walking into Downing Street, Starmer had reason to have his head held high. Son of a toolmaker (don’t we know it), with a long-standing history of service to the State as Head of the Crown Prosecution Service, and an aura of seriousness, he was, in many senses, precisely what the electorate wanted out of their PM following Conservative chaos, particularly under Johnson and Truss. From the moment he was invited by His Majesty the King to form a government, however, the popularity rot seemed to begin almost immediately.
Several factors are chipping away at Starmer’s popularity as we reflect on a year of his premiership: The economy, Gaza, the rise of Reform, looming tax rises, the freebies scandal, and so on. While not one of these factors on their own poses a serious threat to the Starmer government, together they represent death by a thousand cuts.
STARMER, ARRIVES AT NO.10 JUST AFTER WINNING 2025 GENERAL ELECTION, IMAGE: RORY ARNOLD for NO 10 DOWNING
On Gaza and the economy, the left of the Labour Party is in uproar, claiming Starmer’s policies have not portrayed ‘true’ socialist values. But this isn’t as significant an issue for Starmer as some commentators would have you believe. The left has always had its rebellions, and the electorate on the whole rejects that end of the Party, Corbyn’s 2019 result serving as compelling evidence.
Still, there is an issue here - optics. Strength, even to a somewhat overbearing extent, is a necessity in party discipline for a British PM, for without it, backbenchers quickly forget their loyalties and begin to chip away at the house within which they live. The left’s recent success in forcing alterations to the government’s welfare bill does leave Starmer looking weak (he ought to have stood far firmer), eroding his perceived competence and authority as the nation’s leader. The issue of how Starmer’s power is perceived, not just exercised, is something plaguing this administration more broadly.
Returning to the economy, for example, there are notable successes to celebrate, such as trade deals with the US, the EU, and India, marking three major milestones, of which the previous 14 years of the Conservatives managed a resounding zero. Additionally, Starmer’s government has recognised one of Britain’s main economic hindrances: the presence of “too much stodge and regulation”. Already, his administration has culled several red-tape bodies, as our nation’s enterprise and infrastructure is unleashed while simultaneously killing off unruly NIMBYism and similar unproductive forces (read more of my blustering over Labour’s red-tape massacre here). Rome wasn’t built in a day, and while these policy accomplishments are certainly more groundwork than finished product, it leaves you wondering how Starmer has lost control of the narrative so severely that, even after all this and more, the Party is still grappling with its perception of economic incompetence.
In politics, there is a distinction between policy outcomes and policy perception. The outcome of legislation is linked, but by no means directly correlated, to how it is perceived. The last Labour leader to win a general election, Tony Blair, understood this well. A year into his premiership, he held an astounding, and well-deserved, net approval rating of +44 (Starmer’s is currently below -30), not only through reams of successful policy but also a deep consideration of political marketing.
There are two reasons why first-year Starmer juxtaposes with first-year Blair. Firstly, Blair grasped the importance of policy perception in a manner Starmer hasn’t, or at least, he has failed to convert this high evaluation of optics into actuality. Secondly, Blair inherited a surprisingly promising economic position, whereas Starmer has been gifted a smouldering wreck. Starmer’s policies have to fundamentally alter the UK’s fiscal projections, whereas Blair could merely work to extend good fortunes. A poor inheritance has certainly hindered this Labour government, but a failure to seize the narrative has led to Starmer’s popularity succumbing to another force he has to contend with that New Labour did not: the populist right.
NIGEL FARAGE, LEADER OF REFORM UK, IMAGE: DEREK BENNETT
The Blair example is helpful in the context of the contemporary Labour Party as it illustrates the importance of perception alongside proficiency in policy (as well as the economic burden Starmer is carrying post-Trussonomics), and the rise of Reform further exacerbates this. Given the failings of the outgoing Conservative administration and the ordeal British society is confronting, and Labour’s inability to wave a magic wand and make all such problems magically disappear, the anti-establishment wave is truly consuming UK politics. If there is anything Farage can do, it’s seize the narrative, exposing Starmer’s marketing issue further, particularly when foundationally constructive policies are yet to bear their growing fruit.
Reform is, in some regards, a dangerous, if fascinating, entity. Whether it’s the privatisation of the NHS, the promise of unfunded tax cuts, or the lucid presence of a governmental unknown, it ought to be relatively easy for Labour to pick Reform apart. Yet, a mixture of internal rebellions, a failure to weave a political narrative, and the burden of needing to install a foundational policy structure have made this task eerily challenging.
From a solid economic base, a deep desire to reduce national debt and commit to self-imposed fiscal rules, the attempts to reduce the terrifying size of the state, while building strong international alliances, and strengthening national defence on a level unparalleled since the Second World War; there is clearly an uplifting story to be told here. It will not be easy, amidst an electorate clamouring against the establishment, sharpening their pitchforks ready, if not eager, to punish Labour at the ballot box. However, there are four years for the policy to come into effect, for the government to build on its strengths and address its shortcomings, and the legislative foundation has been overwhelmingly solid. The tide will turn.
On the record, Starmer will be here for the next general election, and he will triumph resoundingly. It may seem unlikely now, but four years is a long time, and a positive start has undoubtedly been made.
Onwards and upwards.
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