Over the weekend the Labour Party got together in Liverpool to hold their first party conference post the General Election and getting into government. On his election victory I wrote that the new Prime Ministerhad just 100 days in which he needed to set his mark. After then the honeymoon period would be over, and he would face challenges from all sides. I was wrong. He is only three quarter of the way through these 100 days and already the wheels are coming off.
Ipsos, a multinational market research company published its most recent report this week. And the news could not have been worse for Keir Starmer as he was making his way to Liverpool. The following are a few observations from that report:
• Half (50%) of Britons say they are disappointed by what Labour have done in government so far.
• Only a quarter (25%) think Starmer is doing a good job as Prime Minister.
• 36% of Britons are now more likely to think that the Labour government will change Britain for the worse.
The public is split on whether the Labour government is doing a better or worse job than the previous Conservative government (33% better, 28% about the same, 32% worse). i.e. 60% of respondents felt the new Labour government was the same or worse than the Tories. Let’s put this in context. This is a party that only a few months ago secured one of the highest majorities in living memory. For it to lose the confidence of most of the nation within just a few months of being in government takes some doing. Liz Truss would be proud of Keir, I guess.
When we turn to the Prime Minister’s personal rating, things don’t improve there either. In July Starmer had a positive approval rating of 22% (that is the difference between doing a good job and a bad job). Today his approval rating is negative 17% (-17%). That is a swing of 39% against him in just a few months.
The Opinium/Observer poll paints an even gloomier picture. It found, ‘Starmer’s approval rating has plunged below that of the Tory leader Rishi Sunak, suffering a huge 45-point drop since July. While 24% of voters approve of the job he is doing, 50% disapprove, giving him a net rating of -26%’.
If this carries on, as I suspect it will, I should not be too surprised if in due course there are calls for him to step down in favour another leader. Possibly on this occasion Labour might even select their first woman in leadership – you can take a guess as to who you think it could be!
It's therefore not surprising that Keiran Pedley, UK Director of Politics at Ipsos said:
‘These findings reflect other Ipsos research that shows declining ratings for Keir Starmer, a lukewarm response to the new Labour government and a sense of public pessimism about the future of the country. As Labour gathers for party conference next week, the Prime Minister and his party will be hoping to inject some belief into the public that the Labour government can deliver against the public’s priorities in the months and years to come.’
In my view, Starmer will use public money to buy out the Unions to stop the strikes that Labour encouraged when they were in opposition. Ploughing more money into inefficient public services that are held to ransom by some workers who care little for the public or ingiving value for money will drag us into a massive financial mess. At this week’s party conference Starmer will hear open and subtle calls to support vanity projectslobbied by extreme groups to get their slice of the pie. Prospective future leaders will position themselves strategically knowing that it’s only a matter of time before the power houses within Labour push Starmer out. I suspect by the time the Prime Minster completes his 1st year, this Labour government and our nation will be in a pitiful state.
My simple advice to him is to be bold. Root out the extremists and the madness of the anarchists who are so deeply embedded in Labour. Labour have disenfranchised many faith communities over the past few decades because it chose to side with Islamists. It’s for Starmer and Labour to take those initial steps of friendshiptowards these communities because resetting relationships take time, effort and a bit of humility would help as well.
The Prime Minister once said, ‘country first, Party second’, might I suggest an alternative, ‘One Nation, One People, One Law’.
