‘A mess of our own making': Labour mayors reflect on Starmer's first year
Steve Rotheram, the Labour mayor of Liverpool city region, said Downing Street's repeated missteps were 'winding up' people who wanted to back the government.
Speaking as the party marked 12 months in government after a stunning election win last summer, during which Starmer campaigned on an agenda of national renewal centred around a message of 'change', Rotherham said people were willing to forgive the occasional miscalculation but that the climbdowns over winter fuel payments and the welfare bill had left Starmer's operation looking like 'a mess'.
He said: 'What I think has exacerbated this feeling by many, not just politicians but people around the country, who look at this and think it's a mess. Well, it's a mess of our own making,' he said.
'We could have avoided some of this by just listening to some of the people in the party who want to support Starmer, want to support Labour, but are finding it difficult because the mistakes are made and they could have been avoided.'
Rotheram, a former MP who was elected as first Liverpool city region mayor in 2017, said the government appeared 'disjointed' from the rest of Labour.
He added: 'I don't think it's necessarily about Keir or Keir's team necessarily – although there are definitely some siren voices around all of that – but I do think it's about the feeling that there's a lack of connectivity between different bits of the party.'
Tracy Brabin, the Labour mayor of West Yorkshire, urged Starmer to place the devolution of power at the heart of his premiership.
She said 'The devolution revolution has been all too quickly forgotten by some [government] departments' despite mayors 'driving incredible change for our communities bringing growth, hope and optimism'.
Brabin, a former shadow culture secretary who took office in West Yorkshire in 2021, said Labour had an opportunity to win back the trust of voters who had 'lost confidence in politicians ability to improve their lives' by backing mayors with more powers.
The call was repeated by Oliver Coppard, the Labour mayor of South Yorkshire, who urged government ministers to invest more in frontline policing in the region and in its cultural sector.
But he said ministers appeared 'genuinely interested' in what he was trying to achieve in South Yorkshire, describing dealings with them as 'chalk and cheese' compared with the 'absolute shambles' under the Conservatives.
'The difference is I think this government listens and I hope this government learns. That certainly seems to be the case. I want things to go better, of course I do, because what's good for South Yorkshire is good for this country and vice versa.'
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Angela Rayner, the local government secretary, has promised to extend devolution to all parts of England, starting with new combined authorities in six regions – Cumbria, Cheshire, Essex, Hampshire, East Anglia and Sussex – due to elect metro mayors in May 2026, with a further scheme in Lancashire.
That would mean almost 70% of England's population, about 40 million people, would be represented by 21 mayors with various levels of devolved powers.
The Institute for Government said the plans could mark 'the start of a generational shift in power' away from Whitehall.
Rotheram urged Starmer's government to use its existing mayors more frequently as a way of demonstrating the party's successes.
'My message is that we are here to help,' he said. 'There are things we can all do that will help the party demonstrate its economic competence. We haven't been used as much as we could and should have been, and hopefully we will in the future'.
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