Keir Starmer – where did it all go wrong?
David Vance SubstackRead More
Take yourself back to early July 2024 for one minute. Sir Keir Starmer led hi party to a resounding victory, securing 412 seats and a majority of 214 seats. Under his leadership, Labour demolished the Conservatives who ended up with 121 seats. Starmer entered Downing Street with a huge mandate and the ringing endorsement of those who voted.
It is likely he will announce his resignation as Leader of the Labour Party and as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in the next few days. So I wanted to explore how did it all go wrong and so fast?
Less than a month after he came to power, three little girls were knifed to death in Southport by a 2nd generation Rwandan migrant called Axel Rudakubana. The outrage that followed this was met by Prime Ministerial anger at those protesting, whether on the streets or on social media. He seemed more focused on THAT than on understanding our outrage. This is when “the full weight of the law” reflex became apparent and people just didn’t like it. His personal likability ratings started to slide very quickly.
This was then compounded when to everyone’s surprise, his Government announced that they were going to cut the Winter Fuel Allowance for Pensioners, and at the same time taxes were being increased, contrary to the manifesto. Throw in the early release of prisoners, and by the Autumn his ratings were plummeting and they never recovered.
Then came the disability benefit cuts which were part of Labour’s 2025 welfare reform plan. In simple terms, the government wanted to make it harder for some people to qualify for extra disability-related support. This caused outrage on the Labour backbenches and the plans were ditched – but not without chaos and anger,
So by the time Starmer got to 2025, he has proving to be an unpopular figure.
Then along came Lord Peter Mandelson who Starmer delighted in appointing to the prestigious position of US Ambassador. Mandelson took up the role in February. Following revelations in the released Epstein Files, Mandelson left the role by September. Five months later, he left the House of Lords. Huge questions were asked about Starmer’s judgement and he seemed evasive, throwing everyone around him under the boss to save his own skin. By this point, the Prime Minister was incredibly unpopular.
In parallel to all of this, we had a series of Ministerial resignations where the pattern was that Starmer expressed his total confidence in them before they signed. The first of this was Louise Haigh, Transport Secretary. She admitted to a previous fraud. Starmer backed her but then accepted her resignation! Then we had his Anti Corruption Minister Tulip Siddique resigning due to…. corruption charges. Other high profile and very embarrassing resignations included the Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner! The edifice around him was collapsing mired in scandal.
Bit by bit, it became apparent that his own backbenchers had become alienated from him. He wasn’t left wing enough for quite a few of them and he seemed tin eared to the Public. That swarmy Barrister image didn’t look good.
What probably finished him off was the May 2026 Elections. In Scotland, in Wales and in England, Labour were humiliated. The writing was on the wall. The country was sick of Labour and in particular sick of Starmer.
This month, Andy Burnham finally got a seat to stand for election, won it, and is headed for Westminster with the specific intention to replace Starmer.
Less than two years after winning the UK General Election, Sir Keir Starmer is about to leave Downing Street. He only has himself to blame. He is a poor communicator, lacks the common touch, has atrocious judgement and comes across as cold.
We will not miss him.
