Keir Starmer will this week promise to deliver the most ambitious program for government “in a generation” as he sets new targets to refocus his premiership amid falling approval ratings and the first resignations from his Cabinet.
In a political gamble designed to draw a line under the bumpy opening months of his term, it is emerging that the Prime Minister will commit to a series of political milestones to cut NHS waiting lists, crime and improve living standards and improve early childhood education. They are intended to demonstrate tangible improvements in voters’ lives and be realized by the next election.
It comes after frustrations over early missteps led to a reorganization in Downing Street. In preparation for his speech later this week, Starmer will call on civil society, trade union and business figures on Monday to urge them to work with his government to deliver the refined programme.
“This plan for change is the most ambitious yet fair government program in a generation,” Starmer said. “A mission-led government doesn’t mean choosing milestones because they are easy or will happen anyway. It means relentlessly driving real improvements in the lives of working people.
“No doubt there will be obstacles along the way, but this government was elected with a mandate of change and our plan reflects the priorities of working people. Given the unprecedented challenges we have inherited, we will not achieve this by simply doing more of the same.”
Starmer will back controversial measures to increase inheritance tax on farmland, dramatically scale back the winter fuel surcharge, and bind his ministers to the new pledges. The main targets are likely to be housing and NHS waiting times, in what is being described as the first half of a “decade of national renewal”.
An attempt will also be made to reframe the goal of promoting economic growth with a measure that, in a more tangible way, “puts the priorities of working people first.” Insiders insist the measures will be a real challenge.
However, it is clear that Starmer will not include a target for reducing net migration, despite his surprise press conference last week in which he accused the previous Tory government of deliberately running a “one nation experiment with open borders”.
Downing Street strongly denied the address was a “reset”, claiming it had been long planned and reflected Starmer’s pre-election focus on a “mission-led” government. However, it comes with a continuation of the business setback caused by Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ tax hike budget. Meanwhile, the latest Opinium poll for the Observer confirms that Starmer has suffered a serious personal blow since coming to power earlier this year.
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Starmer’s first net approval rating as prime minister – the difference between those who think he is doing well or poorly – was +19%. He now has a net approval rating of -32%. It includes a decline of 8 points in the past two weeks. Labor has also lost ground in recent months as it is seen as the best party to deal with living costs such as housing. The Conservatives now have a one-point lead in cutting mortgage costs. In September, Labor had a six-point lead. Starmer still leads Kemi Badenoch by 23% to 18% when it comes to who voters consider the best prime minister.
It is also accompanied by anger among allies of Louise Haigh, the former transport secretary who resigned after it emerged she had been convicted in 2014 for wrongly reporting a stolen mobile phone to police. They claim Starmer was fully aware of the conviction when he appointed her to his shadow cabinet in 2020.
Her supporters said Starmer had lost one of his most proactive ministers. “She was the minister who got things done,” said one sympathiser, pointing to the renationalisation of the railways and giving local authorities in England more control over bus services.
This week’s strategy is the latest sign of the great influence that Starmer’s chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, now enjoys. He was appointed after concerns that a lack of political leadership had contributed to missteps since Labour’s election victory in July.
The decision to reveal a range of targets carries significant political risks. Former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was criticized for setting five ‘priorities’ that were described as too easy to achieve or simply unachievable – such as his pledge to ‘stop the boats’ crossing the Channel. Starmer’s new milestones will be central to the next government spending review, scheduled for June.
While insiders played down the government’s early problems, they said the operation has become more coherent since McSweeney’s appointment at the heart of No 10 and the resignation of former chief of staff Sue Gray, which some blame for a lack of preparation for power . . McSweeney, the mastermind behind the last election campaign, is now said to be fully focused on winning a second term.
It also comes after a frustrating opening few months, in which Starmer was criticized for accepting gifts and faced a backlash over plans to increase inheritance tax on farmland, cut the winter fuel surcharge and increase national insurance paid by employers.
Downing Street has also had to backtrack on Reeves’ claim that she would “not come back with more borrowing or more taxes”. The government’s official position now is that no tax increases of the same magnitude will be necessary. Adam Drummond, head of political and social research at Opinium, said: “After a brief improvement after the Budget, Keir Starmer’s ratings are back below -30 and Labour’s scores have fallen on several issues. That said, Starmer still leads Kemi Badenoch as ‘best Prime Minister’ and the Conservatives lag behind on most issues.
“Five months after the country dismissed the last government, it seems they are not seeing much of an improvement and are losing confidence in the replacements they hired. The voters, and the government, must hope that things can only get better.”