Keir Starmer is only 150 days into his premiership and his team are already planning a reset. Officially, no one in Downing Street is using the R word when it comes to the speech the Prime Minister is due to give on Thursday. But the plan to use the event to signal a new phase for the government – as part of his ‘plan for change’ – points to how Starmer and his team are trying to turn the page on a torrid start to his premiership.
The Prime Minister is expected to set himself a series of new ambitious targets in a bid to show he is listening to the concerns of ordinary voters. These include cutting NHS waiting lists, reducing crime, improving living standards and boosting early years education. While they are talked up as a development of the five missions Starmer announced in opposition, they are intended to be more precise and tangible to people’s everyday lives.
For example, rather than talking about fastest growth in the G7, Starmer will set out targets to improve living standards. This refocusing is being read to reflect fears that Labour will not secure the fastest growth in the G7 – even if Labour say the target remains. But there is also another factor at play. Government aides have looked at the return of Donald Trump in the States and the way the Democrats lost. Joe Biden could point to a chart showing the American economy was growing, but this wasn’t felt by many voters. This at least part explains the change in language for Labour now.
So, will the shake-up work? Aides in Downing Street believe the whole operation is functioning better since the departure of Sue Gray as chief of staff – but they also know there is a long way to go. Just today, there is more news suggesting consumer and business confidence is down following the Budget, with high street retailers suffering their worst slump in sales since Covid. Then there’s the resignation of Louise Haigh last week over a spent fraud conviction, with questions asked about what Starmer knew and when. Generally speaking, ministers and aides are still getting used to the pressure of government compared with opposition.
It follows that Starmer’s attempt to bring attention back to policy priorities is logical. However, there is a chance that the government machine then focuses on arbitrary targets at the cost of other issues. He also needs to only look back to July this year to see the other risk. These new targets sound a little like Rishi Sunak’s five priorities – even if some of the topics are different, such as clean power in the place of stopping the boats. When Sunak entered Downing Street he set himself a series of targets he said were challenging but that he would achieve to restore trust in politics. It turned out to be much harder than many thought.
Sunak met his target on inflation but fell short on cutting waiting lists and stopping the boats. The five priorities were regularly cited as a way to criticise Sunak for government failure. A strategy that was meant to win back voter trust ended up showing how difficult delivery is inside government. The good news for Starmer is that he has time on his side as he does not need to call an election for several years – but it’s still a plan that comes with risks.
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