Labour Government report card as Keir Starmer marks one year in power after torrid 12 months
COST OF LIVING
UK inflation peaked in 2022 at an eyewatering 11 per cent. The cost of food staples more than doubled. Inflation was falling before Labour took power. But a spike in council tax bills and NI on employers in April saw inflation climb back to 3.5 per cent.
The rise is partly down to increases in airline fares and the cost of eating out. Trump's tariffs don't help either. But the bottom line is many people are still struggling to make ends meet.
4/10
ECONOMY
Economic growth was made the new Government's top priority after it took office. The economy had fallen into recession at the end of 2023 under the Tories but rebounded in the first half of 2024.
Since then, growth has been sluggish. Although the economy grew more than expected in the first quarter of 2025, analysts warn that the disruption and uncertainty caused by the US trade tariffs which began in April could limit growth in the later part of the year.
5/10
WINTER FUEL PAYMENT
When Gordon Brown first introduced the winter fuel payment, pensioners were the worst-off group in society. That's no longer the case. There is a valid argument that the richest pensioners don't need a payment to help with their heating bills.
But the decision by Rachel Reeves last summer to suddenly remove the benefit from 90 per cent of pensioners, with no warning, was a political disaster. It put the new Government on the backfoot and severely damaged trust in Labour.
1/10
DEVOLUTION
Relations between Holyrood and Westminster reached an all-time low when Boris Johnson and Nicola Sturgeon were in power and scarcely improved under Rishi Sunak.
But Keir Starmer has struck up a more positive working relationship with John Swinney. The UK Government has promised to help Holyrood to mitigate the impact of two-child cap benefit cap in Scotland, without yet committing to scrapping it elsewhere. There was also constructive talks on Grangemouth - although not enough to save the refinery from closure.
7/10
DEFENCE
When Labour took power in 1997, the party enjoyed the luxury of a booming economy and relative peace across Europe and the Middle East. But the reality in 2025 is very different. An aggressive Russia remains at war in Ukraine. The Middle East teeters on the brink.
Europe can no longer rely on the US in the Trump era. Starmer has recognised this and pledged to increase defence spending. In an era of already tight public finances, it's a tough choice. But there is little alternative.
7/10
MINIMUM WAGE
Labour promised to raise the minimum wage for workers, and on this at least it has delivered. Three and a half million low-paid workers saw their wages rise on April 1.
The National Living Wage paid to over-21s went up by 6.7% and the National Minimum Wage for 18 to 20-year-olds rose by 16%. A higher hourly rate called the Real Living Wage, paid voluntarily by some UK businesses to half a million people, has also gone up.
8/10
WELFARE
Labour argued too many people were becoming reliant on benefits at a young age instead of finding work. But plans announced by Liz Kendall, the Work and Pensions Secretary, to reform the system were quickly viewed as an exercise in saving the Government money by taking away benefits from the disabled.
Facing a major backbench rebellion, and possible defeat in the Commons, the Government was forced into a rapid climbdown. Spending on welfare will now continue to rise. And money will need to be found from elsewhere to pay for it. The Government's authority has been weakened in the process.
2/10
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Though Labour won 411 of 650 seats in last year's general election, the party took home a more moderate 33.8 per cent of the national vote on a turnout of just 60 per cent, with some describing it as 'the loveless landslide'. Now, one year later, polls from Techne show that just 23 per cent of voters would opt for Labour in a general election. Yet the past year has seen Reform UK make an unprecedented climb in the polls, at 28 per cent of the vote (according to Techne) – leaving the Tories reduced to 18 per cent. Labour still leads among younger voters, finding favour with 29 per cent of 18- to 34-year-olds. But older voters have turned to Farage and Reform, now the first-choice party for a third of voters aged 55 and over. Added to this, confidence in the government is running at an all-time low of just 25 per cent, and Sir Keir's personal net favourability has fallen to a new low of -46, according to YouGov. Freebies and gifts Part of his rapid loss in popularity came when it emerged that Sir Keir, his wife Lady Victoria and a number of senior cabinet ministers had received controversial free gifts. These included hospitality at Arsenal, worth £8,750 per game, for the PM to watch his favourite football team. £39,000 Sir Keir received nearly £19,000 worth of work clothes and several pairs of glasses, as well as £20,000 worth of accommodation, from Waheed Alli, the former chair of online fashion retailer Asos. The PM also received a £4,000 ticket from the Football Association to see Taylor Swift at Wembley Stadium. It also emerged that he had failed to declare a gift of clothes for his wife Victoria from Lord Alli. Mastering the trade deal The UK has negotiated two major trade deals, while a third has come in the form of a 'Brexit reset' with the EU. The UK-India trade agreement was years in the making, but was finally signed in May this year. 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The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
We now know what Starmerism is – but the prime minister lacks an inspirational vision
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.
