Public confidence in Keir Starmer’s Labour government in the UK has fallen to its lowest level since it took office last July, while his personal ratings are also under pressure. These figures are echoed in polls comparing party rankings which show Labour well down on its election totals, Conservatives not much up, but a surge in support for the Reform party led by Nigel Farage.
Such a poor showing is not surprising given the government’s determination to pursue a five-year strategy based on restored economic growth to deliver improvements in living standards, combined with the difficult decisions it says are required for this to happen. Short term unpopularity is built in to the approach. But even sympathetic critics are worried that Starmer’s failure to forge and communicate a convincing public narrative justifying it weakens him politically – especially against Farage. Blaming the Conservatives for falling living standards invites the question of what Labour is doing about it.
Starmer acknowledged these difficulties when he shuffled top advisors and reissued a reset of the mission statements on which he campaigned to win his July landslide. Pledges to boost living standards, improve schools and policing, build more houses, produce clean energy and reduce hospital backlogs are concrete and specific. But they demand action and, if postponed, good reasons why they cannot be immediately delivered. Such a hopeful vision expressed in a convincing story seems to elude Labour’s leadership.
That raises deeper questions about Starmer’s overall strategy and the political capacity to make it work. If he is to face down a weak Conservative opposition and convince disenchanted traditional Labour voters not to turn to the right-wing populism offered by Farage, Starmer needs to find ways to say this and act more boldly to deliver it. His caution is reflected in the limited steps made so far towards a reset with the European Union, even though a more ambitious approach in this most important of Britain’s economic relationships is vital to underpin growth.