We now know what Starmerism is – but the prime minister lacks an inspirational vision

Independent

16 hours ago

It usually takes years in power before a political leader's name is followed by an '-ism' to define their guiding philosophy.
But as Sir Keir Starmer marks his first anniversary as prime minister, he has already offered up 'Starmerism' as a concept for himself without even bothering to wait for the usual friendly commentator to invent it for him.
Some portray it as his unfortunate nicknames 'two tier Keir' (from the rows over justice and welfare) or 'never here Keir' (from his many trips abroad) as his defining terms, but he clearly has something very different in mind.
His definition of 'Starmerism' actually slipped out when he was taking questions from journalists on the plane as he flew out to Canada for the G7 summit.
'This is very 'Starmerite' if you like those phases,' he said about the recent spending review. 'The first job is always to clear out, clear up, and then move on from there.'
In fact, 'fixing the foundations' has become one of his favourite catchphrases over the past 12 months.
He regularly talks about how the Tories left the economy, NHS, prisons, and the whole country broken and, perhaps like his often mentioned toolmaker dad, his job is to fix it and then build from there. He has also successfully taken the approach to international relations with a Brexit reset, fixing the relationship with Donald Trump to the point where they appear very close, and fixing trade deals.
His definition sums up both the strengths and all too apparent weaknesses of a government which has lost the goodwill of voters faster than almost any in history, after winning a 156-seat majority.
As a senior minister put it privately to The Independent: 'There is no north star to aim at…when people have a destination point then it makes it much easier to explain the harder choices on the way.'
The comments addressed the lack of a grand vision for Starmerism – very different to Blair's third way or Thatcher's rolling back of the state.
They were made in the middle of the rebellion over the welfare reforms. Scores of Labour MPs were unwilling to back the cuts to disability benefits having already been hurt by the winter fuel fiasco.
That farce saw the winter fuel payments taken from millions of pensioners early in the government only for there to be a U-turn after the political damage was done.
'It is very hard to persuade people to trust you when you have got it so wrong before,' the minister noted in reference to winter fuel.
In his recent interview Starmer alluded to regretting the lack of that grand vision or sunlit uploads of hope in his first Downing Street rose garden speech after taking office. It was all about how the country was broken and how he needed to do tough things to fix it and that set the tone for a miserable year.
But part of the problem was a lack of infrastructure to help build that vision. Put simply Labour came into government ill-prepared because of a lack of centre left think tanks - factories of policy development and ideas.
Labour Together had been set up for that purpose but had to tack to 'saving the party' from Jeremy Corbyn and his supporters. Unlike the centre-right, there is a lack of centre-left thinks.
This was exposed with the ill-judged and rushed welfare reform. When Sir Iain Duncan Smith became the Tory work and pensions secretary in 2010, he arrived with an oven-ready reform package developed by the Centre for Social Justice over several years. Labour had nothing like that to turn to.
What this has meant is that there is now concern in government that policy is being made and driven by the Treasury short-termism – or quick fixes.
'The balance between Downing Street and the Treasury is wrong, the Treasury has far too much power and far too much control over policy,' a minister complained.
This is why chancellor Rachel Reeves has been blamed more than any other minister for many of the fiascos which have dogged this government, be it welfare reforms, winter fuel, and the incredibly unpopular inheritance tax changes to farmers. All these ideas have been offered time and again by Treasury officials to ministers but they finally found a willing taker in Reeves, because of a policy vacuum.
There has also been a constant issue with poor communication. Ministers are still scratching their heads about how a story on welfare, which should have been about an extra £20bn in the benefits system, became one of £5bn cuts.
'We have a communication problem,' one frankly admitted.
Communication problems were not just about portrayals in the media or social media messaging, but just talking with new MPs – many of whom have apparently not even met the prime minister.
It also reflects in the way the government has not had as much credit for some of the things it has put in place. They are well on their way to fixing the water industry and prisons system but the flatlining economy is a cause for concern.
Meanwhile, dreadful poll ratings, PM's record unpopularity and the rise of Nigel Farage and Reform have created their own short-termist distractions which some now see as an obsession by Starmer's much criticised chief of staff Morgan McSweeney.
There is a sense from ministers loyal to Sir Keir that people 'need patience' because 'the things we have put in place, the free school meals, extra NHS appointments, changes to the economy will take time for people to feel.'
But there are plenty of less charitable voices in Labour giving him until May – and another set of bad election results – to survive.
Both favourites to replace him deputy prime minister Angela Rayner and health secretary Wes Streeting have their versions of a north star grand vision, so if Starmer cannot find his own, then his time as a fixer of broken things in Downing Street may itself prove to be short term.