Starmer leaves No. 10 without ever managing to explain what he stood for

Keir Starmer has succumbed to Donald Trump’s punch, even when it comes to his own resignation.

Starmer entered Downing Street less than two years ago as the US president was heading for a second term. And he will leave at the end of this summer as another short-lived British prime minister who failed to come to terms with the world Trump has created.

To the end, Starmer asked for time to reflect on his decision. But audiences weren’t ready to wait.

A day before Starmer’s own statement, Trump had made the statement in front of No. 10 that “Keir Starmer will resign as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.”

Also Read | Keir Starmer resigns as Labor Party leader and says he will remain British Prime Minister until his successor is chosen

In opposition, Starmer’s callous managerialism has helped Labor woo a nation tired of Boris Johnson’s enthusiasm and antics. However, this was not appropriate for the times when he came to power.
“He doesn’t like the Westminster games that other people enjoy but unfortunately you have to do some of those things to stay at the top,” said former communications director James Lyons, adding that the prime minister’s willingness to accommodate MPs was seen as a weakness. “In the end, Labor’s supporters refused to take yes for an answer,” he said. Labor won a deceptive landslide in the July 2024 general election, giving Starmer his biggest majority since 1997 and the lowest vote share of any post-war prime minister to claim outright victory.

Also Read | Keir Starmer turned the India-UK free trade agreement into the agreement that defined his tenure. Here’s how

This meant a tense parliament, with a large group of Labor MPs seated with slim majorities. They would prove that they were ready to abandon their bosses when their own seat appeared to be in danger. This comes quickly as Starmer tries to navigate a landscape redrawn by Trump’s populist ally Nigel Farage and his UK Reform Party.

They now hope Andy Burnham can thwart the advance of Reformation’s right-wing rebellion after the former mayor of Manchester scored a landslide victory over Farage’s candidate in the Makerfield by-election, paving the way for a challenge to the prime minister.

Starmer’s missteps started early.

Cutting winter fuel payments to some retirees has irritated MPs on the left, raising taxes on employers has disrupted business, and accepting free clothing from party donors has damaged his image with voters across the political spectrum.

Starmer had inherited a dire financial situation, with borrowing reaching 5 per cent of GDP, the debt pile approaching 100 per cent of national output and public services in a deplorable state. NHS waiting lists have reached a record high of 7.8 million people.

Labor has made fixing public services a priority in its first budget in October 2024, raising £40bn ($53bn) through tax and borrowing a further £30bn. But the decision to stick to the promises made in the election manifesto and protect households from tax increases on their income and earnings meant that the business community shouldered the burden. New taxes on private school fees, inherited farmland and private capital have added to the sense of betrayal felt by the rulers Labor won over to its side during a successful election campaign.

Despite the removal of the two-child benefit cap, which would have lifted 450,000 children out of poverty, increases in the minimum wage and higher payroll taxes have led to increases in labor costs that companies have tried to offset through higher prices and layoffs.

The high minimum wage put pressure on employment and helped raise prices. Payroll data shows almost 200,000 fewer people are now employed and inflation has risen from 2% when Starmer came to power to 3.8% as of last September.

The Bank of England blamed the government for much of the increase and investors increased their borrowing returns. Starmer tried to allay these concerns by cutting £5bn from the welfare budget early last year, but the plan sparked a revolt from his own MPs and was scrapped in one of the first damaging U-turns.

Farage and Trump’s populism cast a shadow over Starmer’s government that it has never managed to shake off. Preparing the Prime Minister’s resignation speech in advance, Trump personally highlighted the two issues that were most damaging to Starmer and will pose some of the biggest challenges for his successor.

“He has failed miserably on two very important issues, IMMIGRATION AND ENERGY,” Trump wrote.

Net migration continued to fall from its peak under the Conservatives after Labor made it harder for low-income earners to gain residence and citizenship. But this has done little to stop the advance of right-wing parties that have helped make the issue one of the most salient issues in British politics, especially at a time when irregular migration remains high.

Farage’s Reform UK won just five of the 650 seats in the House of Commons in 2024, but came second in the other 98 seats. Nine months into the new parliament, they were at the top of the opinion polls and have yet to lose that lead.

On energy, Starmer’s cabinet also delivered results but could not overcome the political debate. It has expanded renewable energy and the electricity grid to make the country’s net-zero emissions target “achievable” by 2050, according to the Independent Committee on Climate Change. But Farage still managed to turn the issue into a political football to attack the government.

There was a third topic left unmentioned in Trump’s post: foreign relations. Starmer was initially successful in endearing himself to his US counterpart despite their markedly different management styles. But relations recently soured after Starmer refused to join attacks on Iran.

It was Starmer’s attempt to adapt to the Trump phenomenon that gave him the most damaging scandal of his tenure. Breaking precedent, he appointed as US ambassador not a career diplomat but Peter Mandelson, a shrewd operator from his own party who had twice previously resigned under the cloud of Labor governments.

Bloomberg went much further than what Mandelson had told his boss when it reported emails showing the relationship between Mandelson and former pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein, triggering both the ambassador’s resignation and a months-long scandal from which Starmer has never fully recovered.

Starmer came to politics late in his career, after years of working in law and as head of the UK Crown Prosecution Service. He entered parliament in 2015 as his party was engaged in bitter internal struggles over what its core message should be after the New Labor years.

Under his predecessor Jeremy Corbyn, he rose to prominence as shadow home secretary and then shadow Brexit Secretary. After two general election losses, Starmer stepped forward in 2019 to replace Corbyn with a left-leaning policy platform that promised to prioritize shared ownership and investment in public services, as Burnham now proposes.

Once in government, Starmer struggled to get back on track and his party faced a familiar political impasse. Even Burnham’s past willingness to support Burnham during one of her previous failed attempts to become party leader shows how Labour’s past struggles will reverberate going forward.

“We’re lucky to have great candidates with different strengths, but I’m backing Andy Burnham,” Starmer wrote in 2015. “He has extensive parliamentary experience and the ability to hold the party together as we discuss our purpose and vision for the future.”