Labour Party leadership of Keir Starmer

The Labour Party leadership of Keir Starmer began when Keir Starmer was elected as Leader of the UK Labour Party in April 2020, following the resignation of Jeremy Corbyn after Labour's defeat at the 2019 general election. Starmer's tenure as leader has been marked by his opposition to some of the government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and various other issues involving the government, including Partygate, the cost of living crisis, and the industrial disputes.

During Starmer's tenure, his party suffered the loss of a previously Labour seat in the 2021 Hartlepool by-election, followed by holds in the 2021 Batley and Spen by-election, 2022 Birmingham Erdington by-election and 2022 City of Chester by-election, and a gain from the Conservative Party in the 2022 Wakefield by-election. Labour received mixed results in the 2021 local elections, followed by gains in the 2022 local elections. Labour made significant gains in the 2023 local elections, becoming the largest party in local government for the first time since 2002. In February 2023, Starmer's antisemitism reforms resulted in the party no longer being monitored by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC). However, Starmer has faced criticism for his leadership of the party, such as via accusations of controlling the party in an authoritarian manner, dropping the pledges he made in his leadership bid, and his public statement that Israel has the right to cut off power and water supplies to Gaza.

Since the end of 2021, Labour have consistently polled ahead of the Conservatives as the governments under prime ministers Boris Johnson, Liz Truss, and Rishi Sunak were affected by issues such as the cost of living crisis, the July 2022 government crisis, the September 2022 mini-budget, the October 2022 government crisis, the National Health Service strikes, and a number of scandals involving Conservative MPs.

Background

Main articles: 2019 United Kingdom general election and Labour Party leadership of Jeremy Corbyn

In the 2019 general election, Labour suffered its worst election defeat since 1935, with the Conservative Party earning an 80-seat majority. Labour won 203 seats, gaining 32.2% of the vote. This was the Labour Party's fourth consecutive general election defeat. Following Labour's defeat, Jeremy Corbyn announced that he would stand down as Leader of the Labour Party.

Former Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair said that Corbyn's Brexit policy "alienated both sides of the debate" and that he personified "a brand of quasi-revolutionary socialism - mixing far-left economic policy with deep hostility to Western foreign policy". Blair also highlighted the handling of antisemitism in the party as a key issue. Political scientist John Curtice said that "the bond between Labour and its traditional working-class base is now badly strained" after a substantial swing of votes from Labour to the Conservatives in leave-voting areas. Corbyn took responsibility for the defeat but said he remained proud of his party's campaign. In the Observer, Corbyn claimed that Labour's election campaign had successfully re-set the terms of debate and his manifesto would be seen as "historically important". Corbyn's Shadow Chancellor and ally John McDonnell also took responsibility for the defeat but also cited the media's portrayal of Corbyn as a factor in the defeat.

Labour leadership bid

Main article: 2020 Labour Party leadership election (UK)

Starmer campaigning during the 2020 Labour Party leadership election

On 4 January 2020, Keir Starmer announced his candidacy for the ensuing leadership election. Starmer had previously been Labour's Shadow Brexit Secretary since 2016. By 8 January, it was reported that he had gained enough nominations from Labour MPs and MEPs to get onto the ballot paper, and that the trade union Unison was backing him. Unison, with 1.3 million members, said Starmer was the best placed candidate to unite the party and regain public trust. He also gained support from former Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Mayor of London Sadiq Khan. Supporters of Rebecca Long-Bailey criticised Starmer for releasing details of his campaign donations on the register of members' interests rather than independently, as Long-Bailey and Lisa Nandy had done, which meant that some details of his donors were not published until after the election had ended.

Starmer went on to win the leadership contest on 4 April 2020, defeating Long-Bailey and Nandy, with 56.2% of the vote in the first round, and subsequently became Leader of the Opposition.

Leader of the Opposition

His tenure has seen the party move closer towards the political centre. By 2022, Starmer had dropped most of the socialist policies he advocated during his leadership run, including pledges made to nationalise water and energy, scrap tuition fees, and defend free movement within the EU. Starmer responded to criticism in 2023 by stating that they remained "important statements of value and principle", but cited the COVID-19 pandemic, the War in Ukraine, and the economic crisis resulting from the 2022 mini-budget as having meant that these pledges have had to be adapted. Under Starmer's tenure, the party still supports the Renationalisation of Britain's railways, and has pledged to create a publicly owned energy company, GB Energy, to "compete with private industry and promote clean energy", differentiated from full nationalisation of the energy industry as previously pledged.

In a speech on 23 February 2023, Starmer set out five "national missions" which would be the basis for Labour's manifesto for the next general election, whilst calling for "a decade of national renewal". In the speech, Starmer aimed for the UK to obtain the highest sustained growth in the G7 by the end of his first term. He also aimed for the UK to be a "clean energy superpower" with zero-carbon electricity by 2030. Starmer also committed to health and care reform, improving the justice system and also to "break down the barriers to opportunity" with education and childcare reforms.

Starmer's leadership has been controversial within the party; it has been charged by party members with the allegedly unfair treatment of leftist Labour members, including the blocking of leftist candidates in local elections. The Labour Party lost almost 100,000 members during 2021. The Party has also been criticised for allegedly failing to respond to anti-black racism and Islamophobia within the party, as identified in the 2020 Forde Report commissioned by Starmer and conducted by Martin Forde KC. It accused the party of operating "a hierarchy of racism or of discrimination" in which certain forms of racism and abuse were not taken as seriously as others. Black Labour MPs have condemned the party's response to the problems raised in the report.

Starmer with then prime minister Boris Johnson and former prime minister Theresa May, 14 November 2021

Following past allegations of antisemitism in the party during the Jeremy Corbyn era, Starmer pledged to end antisemitism in the party during his acceptance speech. Starmer apologised for the "stain" of anti-Semitism within the party, adding that he would "tear out this poison by its roots". In October 2020, following the release of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC)'s report into antisemitism in the party, Starmer accepted its findings in full and apologised to Jews on behalf of the party. Later that day, Jeremy Corbyn stated that "the scale of the problem was also dramatically overstated for political reasons". He was later suspended over his response to the report. On 14 November 2022, it was reported that the leadership of the Labour Party would not restore the whip to Corbyn, preventing him from standing for election on behalf of the Labour Party. In February 2023, Starmer's antisemitism reforms resulted in the party no longer being monitored by the EHRC.

During the 2022–2023 industrial strikes, Starmer urged his shadow cabinet members to refrain from joining picket lines. Sam Tarry, the shadow minister for buses and local transport, appeared at a National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers strike picket outside Euston train station. He was subsequently dismissed as minister, which was criticised by trade union leaders. However, a Labour Party spokesperson said that the sacking wasn't "about appearing on a picket line. Members of the frontbench sign up to collective responsibility. That includes media appearances being approved and speaking to agreed frontbench positions."

Starmer with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, 7 November 2023

Since the end of 2021, Labour have maintained a poll lead over the Conservatives, including the highest poll lead of any party in over 20 years amid the government crisis during the Premiership of Liz Truss. During the 2023 local elections, the Labour Party gained more than 500 councillors and 22 councils, becoming the largest party in local government for the first time since 2002.

In September 2023, he reshuffled his shadow cabinet. Starmer was ranked number two in the New Statesman’s Left Power List 2023, below his Shadow Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, but still described as "the overwhelming favourite to be the next Prime Minister". The reshuffle was seen as a promotion of Blairites and demotion of those on the soft left.

During the Israel–Gaza war, Starmer has emphasised his support for Israel, stated he would favour military aid to the country, and called the actions of Hamas and other militants terrorism. In an interview with LBC on 11 October 2023, Starmer was asked whether it would be appropriate for Israel to totally cut off power and water supplies to Gaza, with Starmer replying that "I think that Israel does have that right" and that "obviously everything should be done within international law". On 20 October, after criticism and resignations of Labour councillors, Starmer said that he only meant that Israel had the right to defend itself. Starmer had said that a ceasefire would only benefit Hamas for future attacks, instead calling for a humanitarian pause to allow aid to reach Gaza.

On 16 November 2023, Starmer suffered his largest defeat as leader when 56 of his MPs (including ten frontbenchers) defied a three-line whip in voting for an SNP motion to support an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. Prior to the vote, Starmer stated that Labour MPs with positions in his Shadow Cabinet would be sacked if they voted in favour of the ceasefire vote. This then led to the loss of ten frontbenchers, including eight shadow ministers.

Starmer speaking during Prime Minister's Questions, 7 February 2024

In December 2023, Keir Starmer followed Rishi Sunak in changing his stance by calling for a "sustainable ceasefire" in relation to the conflict in Gaza. This also came after the Foreign Secretary David Cameron's same change in position. Starmer stated his support for a "two-stage" "two-state solution". The Labour Party under Starmer suspended several parliamentary candidates and MPs, including Graham Jones, Andy McDonald, Azhar Ali and Kate Osamor, for allegedly making anti-Semitic comments about Israel during the Israel-Hamas war, or for describing its conduct as genocide.

Beergate

Main article: Beergate

Beergate was a political controversy concerning allegations that an event in Durham on 30 April 2021, attended by Starmer and Deputy Leader Angela Rayner, could have been in breach of COVID-19 lockdown restrictions. On 9 May, Starmer and Rayner said they were confident they had not broken any rules, but would resign if issued with FPNs. They had said that the event complied with the rules for work gatherings, with a pause for food. On 8 July 2022, Durham Constabulary announced that all attendees, including Rayner and Starmer, had been cleared of any wrongdoing.

May 2021 Shadow Cabinet reshuffle

In the aftermath of relatively poor results in the 2021 local elections, Starmer carried out a May 2021 shadow cabinet reshuffle. Starmer dismissed Angela Rayner as Chair of the Labour Party and National Campaign Coordinator following the elections. The move was criticised by John McDonnell, former Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester. The major outcome of the reshuffle was the demotion of the Shadow Chancellor, Anneliese Dodds. Rachel Reeves was appointed as the new Shadow Chancellor and Angela Rayner succeeded Reeves as Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. Nick Brown was dismissed as Chief Whip and replaced by his deputy, Alan Campbell. Valerie Vaz departed as Shadow Leader of the House of Commons and was replaced by Thangam Debbonaire, who in turn was succeeded as Shadow Secretary of State for Housing by Lucy Powell. On 11 May 2021, Starmer's Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) Carolyn Harris resigned, which The Times reported was after allegedly spreading false rumours about the private life of Angela Rayner prior to her dismissal. Sharon Hodgson was appointed as Starmer's new PPS.

Starmer at the Cenotaph in 2021

November 2021 Shadow Cabinet reshuffle

The November 2021 shadow cabinet reshuffle, which was considered a surprise, included the promotion of Yvette Cooper and David Lammy to Shadow Home Secretary and Shadow Foreign Secretary, respectively, while Miliband was moved from Shadow Secretary of State for Business and Industrial Strategy to Shadow Secretary of State for Climate Change and Net Zero. The appointment of Cooper in particular was described by some commentators as a sign of Labour further splitting from the Corbyn leadership and moving to the right. The BBC's Laura Kuenssberg and Robert Peston of ITV News said that the reshuffle aimed to "combine experience and youth" and end "the fatuous project of trying to ... placate Labour's warring factions", and instead chose "shadow ministers for their perceived ability". In the New Statesman, journalist Stephen Bush suggested that Starmer had "removed underperforming shadow cabinet ministers and rewarded his biggest hitters – but the resulting shadow cabinet looks to be less than the sum of its parts."

2022 NATO and Ukraine policy dispute

Shortly before the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, 11 Labour backbench MPs signed a letter by the Stop the War Coalition that accused the UK government of "sabre-rattling" and said that NATO "should call a halt to its eastward expansion and commit to a new security deal for Europe which meets the needs of all states and peoples", whilst also arguing that NATO was an aggressive organisation due to military actions taken by its members outside its borders in the past. The MPs were asked by the party whips, representatives of the leadership tasked with maintaining discipline among Labour MPs, to remove their names from the statement under threat of being expelled from the party and all quickly agreed to do so. A spokesperson for the Labour Party said that this action ensured that every Labour MP understood that their party was on the side of "Britain, Nato, freedom and democracy". At around this time, Young Labour's Twitter account was suspended after it criticised the leadership policy towards NATO. In an interview with the BBC in March 2022, Starmer was asked whether he would be hoping that MPs who backed Stop the War "won't be standing at the next election or if they do whether [he would] be fully supporting them to do so". After repeatedly being accused of not answering the question, Starmer gave the answer of "well, they are Labour MPs and of course I support them, but all of our MPs will go through a process for selection into the next election".

Industrial action policy disputes

The summer of 2022 saw significant amounts of industrial unrest. Starmer instructed members of his shadow cabinet to refrain from joining picket lines; some Labour MPs appeared on picket-lines including frontbenchers Kate Osborne, Paula Barker, Peter Kyle, and Navendu Mishra. The Labour Party's contingents in the Scottish and Welsh parliaments also took a different approach. Sam Tarry, Shadow Minister for Buses and Local Transport, was dismissed on 27 July after appearing on a rail strike picket. He said in a TV interview that workers should receive a pay rise in line with inflation though Labour policy was that pay increases should be based on negotiation. A spokesperson for the party said that "Sam Tarry was sacked because he booked himself onto media programmes without permission and then made up policy on the hoof." His dismissal was criticised by trade union leaders and Tarry wrote in an opinion piece for the i that "failing to join the striking rail workers on a picket line would have been an abject dereliction of duty for me as a Labour MP."

Diane Abbott suspension

In April 2023, after writing an article in The Observer, former Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott was suspended as a Labour MP pending an investigation. In the article, Abbott claimed that although "many types of white people with points of difference" such as Jewish, Irish or Traveller people can experience prejudice, they are not subject to racism "all their lives". Abbott later apologised for the article, saying that she had erroneously sent an early draft of her article. A Labour Party statement said that the comments were "deeply offensive and wrong". Starmer said that she was suspended due to anti-Semitism.

Neal Lawson's possible expulsion

In June 2023, Neal Lawson, the chair of the centre-left think tank, Compass, faced possible expulsion from the Labour Party after 44 years of membership due to tweeting in 2021 in favour of other political parties working together with Labour against the Tories. In response to being notified of his possible expulsion, Lawson said that the party had become obsessed with "petty tyranny" and under the leadership of Keir Starmer the party had been captured by a clique who are "behaving like playground bullies". Labour MP Jon Cruddas accused the party under Starmer of being right-wing, illiberal and of enacting a "witch-hunt", calling the decision regarding Lawson a "disgrace".

2023 Shadow Cabinet reshuffle

Main article: 2023 British shadow cabinet reshuffle

In September 2023, Starmer reshuffled his shadow cabinet for the third time since taking over as leader. Writers from The Guardian and Politico said that the Blairite wing of the party had prospered in the reshuffle to the detriment of the soft left of the party. One shadow minister, said of the reshuffle, "It's all the Blairites" and called it "an entirely factional takeover". Starmer said that he was putting his "strongest possible players on the pitch" ahead of the upcoming general election. Tom Belger writing for LabourList described the reshuffle as a continuing of "Labour’s right-ward march".

Starmer's deputy Angela Rayner received the shadow levelling up post, replacing Lisa Nandy who was demoted to the shadow minister for international development. The most senior members of the shadow cabinet remained in their positions. Rosena Allin-Khan, who was the shadow minister for mental health before the reshuffle, resigned from the Shadow Cabinet, criticising shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting's advocacy for outsourcing the NHS to the private sector. She also said that Starmer did "not see a space for a mental health portfolio in a Labour cabinet". The reshuffle coincided with the start of the tenure of Sue Gray as Starmer's new chief of staff.

Political positions

Starmer's politics have been described as unclear and "hard to define". When he was elected as Labour leader, Starmer was widely believed to belong to the soft left of the Labour Party. However, he has since moved to the political centre-ground. By the September 2023 shadow cabinet reshuffle, most analysts concluded that Starmer had moved to the right of the party, and had demoted and marginalised those on the soft left, replacing them with Blairites.

The term Starmerism has been coined to refer to Starmer's political ideology and his supporters have been called Starmerites. In June 2023, Starmer gave an interview to Time where he was asked to define Starmerism:

Recognizing that our economy needs to be fixed. Recognizing that [solving] climate change isn’t just an obligation; it’s the single biggest opportunity that we’ve got for our country going forward. Recognizing that public services need to be reformed, that every child and every place should have the best opportunities and that we need a safe environment, safe streets, et cetera.

In April 2023, Starmer gave an interview to The Economist on defining Starmerism. In this interview, two main strands of Starmerism were identified. The first strand focused on a critique of the British state for being too ineffective and over-centralised. The answer to this critique was to base governance on five main missions to be followed over two terms of government; these missions would determine all government policy. The second strand was the adherence to an economic policy of "modern supply-side economics" based on expanding economic productivity by increasing participation in the labour market, mitigating the impact of Brexit and simplifying the construction planning process.

Relationship to socialism

Starmer wrote articles for the magazines Socialist Alternatives and Socialist Lawyer as a young man in the 1980s and 1990s. In July 1986, Starmer wrote in the first issue of Socialist Alternatives that trade unions should have had control over the "industry and community". He wrote in Socialist Lawyer that "Karl Marx was, of course, right" in saying it was pointless to believe a change of society could only be achieved by arguing about fundamental rights.

Gavin Millar, a former legal colleague of Starmer, has described his politics as "red-green", a characterisation Starmer has agreed with. In a January 2020 interview, Starmer described himself as a socialist, and stated in an opinion piece published by The Guardian the same month that his advocacy of socialism is motivated by "a burning desire to tackle inequality and injustice".

In an interview with the i's Francis Elliott in December 2021, Starmer refused to characterise himself as a socialist as he seeks to move Labour to the political centre for a possible next UK general election in 2023, asking "What does that mean?" He added: "The Labour Party is a party that believes that we get the best from each other when we come together, collectively, and ensure that you know, we give people both opportunity and support as they needed."

In 2023, Starmer removed the ten socialism-based pledges that he had made in the 2020 party leadership contest from his website, after having abandoned or rolled back on many of these, citing the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic situation as reasons for having to "adapt".

Domestic issues

Starmer has repeatedly emphasised the reform of public institutions (against a so-called 'tax and spend' approach), localism, and devolution. He has pledged to abolish the House of Lords, which he has described as "indefensible", during the first term of a Labour government and to replace it with a directly-elected 'Assembly of the Regions and Nations', but the details of which will be subject to public consultation. He criticised the Conservative Party for handing peerages to "cronies and donors". Upon becoming leader of the Labour Party, he tasked former Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown with recommending constitutional reforms to British democracy. The report was published in 2022 and was endorsed and promoted by Starmer, and recommended the abolition of the House of Lords, greater powers given to local councils and mayors, and deeper devolution to the nations of the United Kingdom. However, in 2024, early plans for Labour's election manifesto for the next general election reportedly would not call for abolition of the House of Lords, instead committing only to removal of the remaining hereditary peers from the Lords during the first term of a Labour government.

Starmer supports social ownership and investment in the UK's public services, including the National Health Service (NHS). In 2020, he pledged to increase income tax for the top 5% of earners and to end corporate tax avoidance, but receded from the income tax commitment in 2023. He advocates the reversal of the Conservative Party's cuts in corporation tax and supported Labour's anti-austerity proposals under Jeremy Corbyn's leadership. On social inequality, Starmer proposes "national wellbeing indicators" to measure the country's performance on health, inequality, homelessness, and the environment. He has called for an "overhaul" of the UK's Universal Credit scheme. Opposing Scottish independence and a second referendum on the subject, the Labour Party under Starmer's leadership has set up a constitutional convention to address what he describes as a belief among people across the UK that "decisions about me should be taken closer to me". Starmer is against the reunification of Ireland, having stated that he would be "very much on the side of Unionists" if there were to be a border poll.

Starmer strongly favours green policies to tackle climate change and decarbonise the British economy. He has committed to eliminate fossil fuels from the UK electricity grid by 2030, five years earlier than the Conservative government's target. In 2021, Starmer and his Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves pledged that a Labour government would invest an extra £28 billion a year in green industries if elected; in June 2023 this was changed to £28 billion per year by the middle of their first term of government.

Starmer vowed in 2021 and 2022 to strip independent schools of their VAT-exempt charitable status, a move opposed by the Independent Schools Council, During the 2020 Labour leadership election, Starmer pledged to scrap university tuition fees; he dropped this pledge in May 2023, citing a "different financial situation" following Liz Truss' premiership. Starmer instead said that he aimed to reform the tuition fee system, which he said was unfair to both students and universities. He is supportive of faith schools, and said he would not change policy on faith schools. He has ruled out extending free school meals to all primary school pupils in England, instead pledging to extend breakfast clubs including free breakfasts for every primary school in England.

Starmer's position on public ownership over national infrastructure has changed over time. In the 2020 Labour Party leadership election, Starmer ran on a pledge to renationalise rail, mail, water, and energy back into common ownership; he dropped this pledge in July 2022 and said he would take a "pragmatic approach" to public ownership. As of September 2023, he remained committed to renationalising the railways as existing contracts expire, the creation of a publicly owned energy company, and stricter regulation of water companies. Starmer favours partnership between government and business, having said: "A political party without a clear plan for making sure businesses are successful and growing ... which doesn't want them to do well and make a profit ... has no hope of being a successful government."

Starmer has pledged to halve the rates of violence against women and girls, halve the rates of serious violent crime, halve the incidents of knife crime, increase confidence in the criminal justice system, and create a 'Charging Commission' which would be "tasked with coming up with reforms to reverse the decline in the number of offences being solved". He has also committed to placing specialist domestic violence workers in the control rooms of every police force responding to 999 calls to support victims of abuse.

In 2023, the Byline Times wrote that Starmer "actively opposes a move to proportional representation for the House of Commons".

After confirming he would not scrap the current two-child benefit cap, Starmer was criticised by many within his own party.

Foreign affairs

Starmer meets with then U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and U.S. Ambassador to the UK, Woody Johnson, July 2020

Starmer meets with United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the Munich Security Conference, February 2024

Starmer voted remain in the Brexit referendum and, as Shadow Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, advocated a second Brexit referendum after the UK withdrawal from the EU. In 2021 he ruled out a return to free movement with the EU or substantial renegotiation of the EU–UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement if Labour won the next general election. In 2023, Starmer wrote in the Daily Express that "Britain's future is outside the EU" and he would not take the UK back into the EU or into the single market, customs union, or return to freedom of movement. However, he has called for much closer economic, diplomatic, and military collaboration between the UK and EU, and would seek to revisit the Brexit deal negotiated and implemented under former Conservative prime minister Boris Johnson.

Starmer has advocated an end to "illegal wars" and a review of UK arms exports. During his leadership campaign, he pledged to create a Prevention of Military Intervention Act, which would only permit lawful military action with the support of the House of Commons. Starmer stated in 2015 that he believed that the Iraq War was "not lawful under international law because there was no UN resolution expressly authorising it." Starmer called for sanctions against Chinese officials who have been involved in human rights abuses. He criticised the Johnson government for approving of major UK arms sales to Saudi Arabia used in the Saudi military campaign in Yemen, which intensified the humanitarian crisis in that country. Starmer condemned the U.S.'s assassination of Qasem Soleimani, the commander of Iran's Quds Force within in Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps; Starmer said the world needed to "engage, not isolate" Iran and called upon "all sides ... to de-escalate tensions and prevent further conflict."

During the U.S.'s transitioned from the presidency of Donald Trump to that of Joe Biden, he said: "I'm anti-Trump but I'm pro-American. And I'm incredibly optimistic about the new relationship we can build with President Biden." He argued that "Britain is at its strongest" when it is "the bridge between the US and the rest of Europe."

In 2021, Starmer said that Israel "must respect international law" and called on the Israeli government to work with Palestinian leaders to de-escalate the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. Starmer opposes Israeli settlements, proposals for Israeli annexation of the West Bank, and "the eviction of Palestinians" in the Israeli-occupied territories; he also opposes the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. Starmer also has expressed support for the creation of an "inverse OPEC" to promote renewable energy. He has rejected the contention that Israel is an apartheid state. During a June 2023 meeting with Palestinian Mission to the United Kingdom head Husam Zomlot, Starmer recommitted the Labour Party to the recognition of a Palestinian state if it wins the next general election. In January 2024, Starmer said that a future Labour government would recognize a State of Palestine as part of a multi-national peace process, rather than extending recognition immediately or unilaterally; this confirmed a recommendations from the party's policy forum in October 2023. During the first months of the Israel–Hamas war, Starmer declined to call a ceasefire; in February 2024, Starmer called for a "ceasefire that lasts" and said it must "happen now".

During the 2021–2022 Russo-Ukrainian crisis, Starmer met with Secretary General of NATO Jens Stoltenberg and said in an interview with the BBC that his predecessor Jeremy Corbyn was "wrong" to be a critic of NATO and that the Labour Party's commitment to NATO was "unshakeable"; he added that "stand united in the UK ... Whatever challenges we have with the [Boris Johnson's] government, when it comes to Russian aggression we stand together." Starmer called for "widespread and hard-hitting" economic sanctions against Russia. He also criticised the Stop the War Coalition in an op-ed for The Guardian, writing that the group's members were "not benign voices for peace" but rather "[a]t best they are naive, at worst they actively give succour to authoritarian leaders" such as Vladimir Putin "who directly threaten democracies." In February 2023 he met Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy, and pledged support for Ukraine during the Russian invasion of the country; Starmer that if he became prime minister, there would be no change in Britain's position on the war in Ukraine. He also called for Russian leaders, including Putin, to be tried at The Hague for crimes against humanity. Starmer supported the International Criminal Court's issuance of an arrest warrant for Putin, after he was indicted in the ICC.

Starmer supports maintaining the UK's nuclear arsenal as a nuclear deterrent, and voted for renewal of the Trident programme; he supports the general post-Cold War British policy of a gradual reduction in nuclear stockpiles.

According to Declassified UK, Starmer is a former member of the Trilateral Commission.

Public opinion

Election results

See also: 2021 United Kingdom local elections, 2022 United Kingdom local elections, 2023 United Kingdom local elections, and 2024 United Kingdom local elections

Starmer's 2020 approval graph

2021

Starmer led the Labour Party into the 2021 local elections. On 11 March, Starmer launched Labour's local election campaign, with Angela Rayner (Deputy Leader), Sadiq Khan (Mayor of London), Mark Drakeford (First Minister of Wales), Anas Sarwar (Scottish Labour leader), and Tracy Brabin (Mayor of West Yorkshire candidate) as speakers. The party focused its election priorities on giving nurses a pay rise. This was during a period of popularity for the government in the wake of the COVID-19 vaccination programme; into the short campaign period, the Conservative Party started to develop a 6–7% poll lead on the Labour Party.

Starmer was criticised for the Labour Party's failure to win the 2021 Hartlepool by-election. Hartlepool is part of the "red wall", a set of constituencies that historically supported the Labour Party but where the party is being challenged by increasing Conservative support. The Labour Party candidate Paul Williams was a vocal advocate of a second referendum on EU membership; 70% of voters in the constituency of Hartlepool had voted to leave the EU, leading to criticism that Starmer had made the wrong decision in advocating for Williams to be selected as the candidate. The Conservative candidate Jill Mortimer won the by-election with 51.9% of the vote and a swing from Labour of almost 16%. It became only the second time since 1982 that the governing party gained a seat in a by-election, and the first Conservative win in the constituency since its creation in 1974. A biography about Keir Starmer was published in February 2024 which reported that he considered resigning in the aftermath of the defeat in Hartlepool. The book reported that Starmer wanted to quit as leader of the party before being persuaded to stay by close aides.

At the local elections on 6 May 2021, the Labour Party lost 327 councillors and control of 8 councils. While it gained control of Mayor of the West of England and Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority, the Labour Party failed to take the position of Mayor of the West Midlands. The party won a net equal number of police and crime commissioners. Elections also took place to the devolved Scottish Parliament and Senedd. In the 2021 Senedd election, Labour equalled its best ever result, falling one seat short of an overall majority, which has never been achieved in that institution, which the BBC reporter Adrian Browne credited to Mark Drakeford and approval of his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic in Wales. In the 2021 Scottish Parliament election, the party achieved its worst ever result at a Holyrood election, winning just 22 seats, two less than in 2016. In July, Labour won the 2021 Batley and Spen by-election and held the seat, a result that was considered to have taken some pressure off Starmer's leadership.

2022

The 2022 local elections on 5 May took place during a more difficult period for the government, which was facing problems such as Partygate and a cost of living crisis. The Labour Party made gains across Great Britain winning by far the largest number of seats overall. Some on the British left claimed that Labour had underperformed in comparison with smaller parties. In December 2022, Labour held both the City of Chester and Stretford and Urmston in by-elections with an increased margin for Labour. The result in Chester was the party's best-ever result in the seat.

2023

The 2023 local elections on 4 May saw significant losses for the government, which lost over 1,000 council seats. The Labour Party, the Liberal Democrats and the Green Party of England and Wales all made gains, with Labour becoming the party with most members elected to local government for the first time since 2002. With Labour gaining over 500 seats, Starmer claimed that the election sets the party "on course for a Labour majority at the next general election".

In July 2023, Labour gained the Selby and Ainsty constituency from the Conservatives during a by-election with Labour overturning the Conservatives' 20,000 majority with a swing of 23.7%. On the same night, Labour finished second in Boris Johnson's former seat in the Uxbridge and South Ruislip by-election by 495 votes. The party leadership blamed this defeat on the planned expansion of the Ultra Low Emission Zone to outer London.

On 19 October, Labour gained two seats in by-elections in Tamworth and Mid Bedfordshire in some of the largest swings from the Conservatives since the prelude to the 1945 general election.

2024

In February 2024, Labour gained two seats from the Conservatives in by-elections in Wellingborough and Kingswood. The Wellingborough by-election saw a swing of 28.5% which was the second highest swing from the Conservatives to Labour in a by-election since 1945. Labour lost the seat of Rochdale in a by-election to the Workers Party of Britain candidate George Galloway. Galloway won almost 40% of the vote and overturned a Labour majority of 9,668 with Labour finishing 4th in the contest. Labour had withdrawn support for their candidate Azhar Ali during the campaign after comments he had made that were widely alleged to be anti-Semitic. Starmer later apologised to the voters of Rochdale but insisted that it was the right decision to withdraw support. In the local elections, Labour gained 186 seats. They also gained the newly formed combined authority mayoral positions of East Midlands, the North East and York and North Yorkshire, as well as gaining the West Midlands mayoralty from the Conservatives. Labour gained Blackpool South in a by-election on the same day with a 26.3% swing.

Opinion polls

See also: Opinion polling for the next United Kingdom general election

Since the end of 2021, Labour consistently polled ahead of the Conservatives as the governments under prime ministers Boris Johnson, Liz Truss, and Rishi Sunak were affected by issues such as the cost of living crisis, the July 2022 government crisis, the September 2022 mini-budget, the October 2022 government crisis, and the industrial disputes. By mid-October 2022, Labour were recording polling leads such as 36% against the Conservatives according to Redfield & Wilton.

Overview of opinion polling for the Next United Kingdom general election since the 2019 general election.

Party management

EHRC report, exclusion of Corbyn and antisemitism reforms

In October 2020, following the release of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC)'s report into antisemitism in the party, Starmer accepted its findings in full and apologised to Jews on behalf of the party. The report said that there was "a culture within the party which, at best, did not do enough to prevent antisemitism and, at worst, could be seen to accept it". The report also found that the party had broken equality laws due to the handling of antisemitism complaints. Starmer added that the findings were "hard to read" and that it had "been a day of shame for the Labour Party".

Later that day, Jeremy Corbyn stated that "the scale of the problem was also dramatically overstated for political reasons". He was later suspended over his response to the report. Some on the left of the party called for Corbyn's suspension to be lifted. On 14 November 2022, it was reported that the leadership of the Labour Party would not restore the whip to Corbyn, preventing him from standing for election on behalf of the Labour Party. This led to speculation Corbyn could stand for election as the Mayor of London or in his current parliamentary constituency as an independent candidate, in opposition to Labour. In March 2023, Labour's National Executive Committee (NEC) voted 22 to 12 on a motion from Starmer to prevent the Labour Party from endorsing Corbyn as a candidate for the party at the next general election.

In February 2023, Starmer's antisemitism reforms resulted in the party no longer being monitored by the EHRC.

After having previously resigned from the party in February 2019 citing the handling of antisemitism allegations in the party, former Labour MP Luciana Berger rejoined in February 2023. Berger accepted an apology from Starmer, adding that the party had "turned a significant corner".

2021 party governance changes

In the run up to Labour's conference in September 2021, the party announced plans to reform its governance structure with changes including the return of its older electoral college which would give MPs, members and trade unions a third of the vote each in future leadership elections. Starmer's spokespeople said that this was a way to strengthen the party's link with the trade union movement but commentators described the changes as an attempt to increase the power of MPs and trade unions at the expense of the general membership, along with being a symbolic act to draw a distinction between Starmer and Corbyn.

Starmer gave up on the electoral college after it failed to gain the support of trade unions; the party's executive committee agreed to send a series of more modest reforms to conference, including increasing the percentage of Labour MPs a candidate would need the support of to get on the leadership election ballot, banning the party's newest members from voting, and making it harder for members to deselect MPs. These changes were later passed by a small margin. The Bakers, Food and Allied Workers' Union voted to end its affiliation to Labour dating back to early in the party's history, commenting that it had "travelled away from the aims and hopes of working-class organisations like ours" under Starmer's leadership.

Forde Report

In April 2020, an internal party report on antisemitism (The Work of the Labour Party’s Governance and Legal Unit in Relation to Anti-semitism, 2014–2019) was leaked. It was made during the end of Corbyn's leadership, intended for submission to the EHRC, and dated March 2020. It detailed that there was a tangible issue with antisemitism in the party, but factional hostility to Corbyn hampered efforts to tackle it. In January 2023, it was reported that the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) were not going to take action against the Corbyn-supporting authors of the report, which leaked with unredacted confidential information, and that the Labour Party would pursue a civil case against them. This internal report led to the Forde Report.

On 17 July 2022, the Forde Report was published, having been commissioned by Starmer at the beginning of his leadership. It described how groups within Labour had sought to hinder Corbyn while leader of the Labour Party and said that during his leadership it broke into factions which supported or opposed him, though this factionalism had decreased since Starmer took leadership. The report said that groups within the party who were in support and opposition to Corbyn both sought to use allegations of antisemitism in the party during his leadership to further their political interests. The report detailed bullying, racism, and sexism within the party.

The report also said many of those within the party from whom it gathered evidence were concerned the party operated a "hierarchy of racism or of discrimination", with more resources being allocated to investigate claims of antisemitism, amid their surge and political importance, compared to other forms of discrimination. Starmer was criticised for his lack of response to the report and the problems within the party that it highlighted, in particular anti-black racism.

Election candidate selection process controversy

With the Labour Party needing to gain many new seats if they are to win the next election, and with at least a dozen of their standing MPs planning to stand down before the next election, by early November 2022, the party had started the selection process for the new candidates they will need.

In October and November 2022, Starmer was accused of designing and using Labour's new selection process for parliamentary candidates to prevent Corbyn-supporting, left-wing, or disloyal prospective MPs from being able to stand at the next general election.

Party members who supported Jeremy Corbyn, the party's previous leader, are saying that under Starmer's leadership, they are being targeted for exclusion by the selection process. Under the selection system, step one is to get onto a 'longlist', which will then be refined down to a 'shortlist'. BBC News says that unnamed potential candidates have said that party employees are being "tasked" to search their online activities for reasons to keep them off the 'longlist'. One unnamed Labour MP from the left of the party said of the party leadership that they were "drunk on power" and that they went "beyond anything from the Blair years". The party defended this activity saying it was for quality control purposes. John McTernan, a former advisor for Tony Blair, supported the activity, saying Labour needs to return "good MPs" with "mainstream Labour values" for the coming election adding that under Corbyn, too much "flotsam and jetsam" became Labour MPs. A Labour representative said "Due diligence is about weeding out candidates who could cause electoral damage".

On 13 November 2022, The Guardian said that under Starmer, the way the selection panel has "exerted tight control" over how candidates are selected for shortlisting had become "extraordinary". Starmer "allies" say that selection vetting needs to be tougher as there has recently been a lot of MPs "suspended, arrested or [...] embarrassed for ill-advised tweets". The Guardian added that the measures often appear to be factional even though previous scandals have not solely involved candidates from the party's left. The co-chair of Momentum, Hilary Schan, said how times were hard for the left in the Labour party, amid the "controversy over party selections" in which candidates from the left-wing of the party were "excluded from shortlists". New Statesman credits Starmer's campaign director, Morgan McSweeney, with the idea of "marginalising left-wingers" using a more stringent selection process. In 2023, the paper went on to rank McSweeney as the third most influential left wing figure in the UK, describing him as Starmer's "most trusted aide".

On 27 January 2023, HuffPost reported that after an encounter with the leaders of Scottish Labour and Welsh Labour, Starmer had "been forced into a U-turn" over the candidate selection process. Scotland's Anas Sarwar and Wales's Mark Drakeford were said to be "frustrated" for not being consulted over the idea of imposing the process used in England on the Scottish and Welsh branches of the party. Following the exchange, it is reported that it was agreed that any new process would have to be agreed jointly. The fear of the proposed English system was that it was designed to prioritise candidates close to the leadership, and to block candidates on the left of the party, thus be used to “stitch up” the candidate shortlists. Starmer's aides characterised the English checks as being used to weed out candidates who may be unsuitable to stand for parliament or who may risk damaging the party’s reputation.

Party membership numbers and finances

Starmer inherited a party membership of 552,835 when he replaced Jeremy Corbyn as leader in April 2020. By the time of the NEC vote seven months later, that had dropped by 56,874, more than 10%, to 495,961, but still the largest of any UK party.

By the end of 2021, membership had fallen to 432,213, a drop of more than 21% since Starmer became leader, but still more than double the membership of the Conservative Party. Momentum, a left-wing campaign group, said Starmer's "factional" leadership was to blame as it alienated trade unions. Starmer dismissed this, saying it followed the pattern of membership going up before an election and flattening off again after. Labour therefore made a £5 million loss in 2021 leading to some staff redundancies with the loss in membership fees as well as ongoing legal battles with former staff being key factors for this loss. In July 2023, it was revealed that the party's membership had fallen further to 399,195.

By the second quarter of 2022, the Labour Party received more than £10.4 million including a £3 million donation from supermarket baron David Sainsbury and a £2.2 million donation from business tycoon Gary Lubner. Labour also received £2.7 million from public donations and trade unions.

See also

• Keir Starmer
• Labour Party leadership of Jeremy Corbyn – Starmer's predecessor in the role
• History of the Labour Party (UK)
• Labour Party (UK)