There comes a time in any government when a prime minister must push the reset button. In 2017, Theresa May tried to reset her premiership after the disastrous snap election with a speech on the British dream that was quickly overshadowed by a repeated cough, falling set and a prankster handing her a P45. In early 2022 — three years after his election win — Boris Johnson attempted to calm a restive party with the promise of “Operation Red Meat”, a bunch of policies aimed at the Tory grassroots. It bought Johnson a little time — but both leaders were eventually forced out by their unhappy MPs.
So, there’s good reason that aides in today’s No 10 are allergic at even the mention of the R-word. Yet this is the word being bandied around Westminster ahead of Sir Keir Starmer’s keynote speech today. The set piece event — which will see Starmer set himself new targets and speak to his priorities — has quickly been branded a major reset of his premiership less than six months in. “It’s definitely not a reset,” insists a No 10 aide. Instead allies of Starmer say it is simply a continuation of the path they are already on. What’s more, no one is seriously suggesting Starmer so soon after an election win is in serious trouble when it comes to his position.
It is a cause of alarm to ministers that they seem to have got to this stage less than six months in
Yet the way even word of the speech has been received speaks to the political problem the Prime Minister finds himself in. Since Starmer entered 10 Downing Street, his party’s voting intention numbers have fallen and his personal ratings have plummeted. None of this is unusual for a government across its term — but usually these things are dismissed as mid-term blues, so it is a cause of alarm to ministers that they seem to have got to this stage less than six months in.
It’s not down to a single event — instead ministers blame it on a series of issues: the Tory inheritance, own goals on sleaze and standards, plus a general difficulty getting the machine of government to bend to their will. On the latter point, one name that often comes up is Sue Gray, Starmer’s former chief of staff who left the role in October. Those left in the building have little nice to say about her — blaming Gray for a lack of preparedness. A career civil servant, Gray was in charge of transition talks and kept details close to her chest while Morgan McSweeney (her No 10 successor) worked on the campaign.
Mixed messages
However, Gray left nearly two months ago so Starmer’s new-look team — led by McSweeney with key new appointments such as the Labour veteran Claire Reynolds (wife of the business secretary Jonathan Reynolds) on MP relations — know the Gray excuse won’t last for long. It’s why despite all the resistance, it is the case that this speech is designed to turn the page and herald a new more political era. There is an acknowledgement that the Government’s message has too often been all over the place. “There was a week where we moved from talking about banning smoking in pubs to telling people we’d weigh them at the office,” says one party figure. “Since when were these our priorities.” No wonder Starmer has been accused of coming off as a little miserable.
It’s why today’s event needs to go beyond tangible targets. Starmer also needs to set out a vision. Such a statement can seem like a cliché but plenty of Starmer’s own ministers are these days questioning the point of the project. Things like cutting winter fuel and bringing in assisted dying weren’t on the top of most Labour MPs’ priority lists when they came in.
Purpose, please
On the left of the Labour party, Starmer is viewed as a civil servant who lacks political impulses. Some have even taken to imagining his lack of vitality or charisma in public is part of a careful strategy. “I tell myself he is just doing this because it is safer to and is actually a fascinating guy,” says a party staffer. But ministers are asking this lack of agenda why they worked for 14 years to get back into government.
Starmer would do well to be more present in 2025. One of the regular complaints from Labour MPs is they rarely see him
It’s why, I understand, the new targets (which will set goals on driving down NHS waiting lists and crime while driving up living standards and delivering clean power by 2030) will be accompanied by a new political narrative. Starmer takes the view that these goals are only achievable if they also reform the state — and they can’t afford not to. So tricky decisions on welfare and the NHS beckon. Second, there is a political risk to not taking some risks now; on the current path the UK is on, ministers worry that an anti-Westminster — and more general anti-politics — mood will grow. That risks voters moving to the Right and parties like Reform led by Nigel Farage. McSweeney has seen off a threat from the Right before. In Barking and Dagenham he worked to defeat the BNP — focusing on people’s priorities as the answer.
But the challenge Starmer now faces is on a much larger scale — and requires a grip on government as much as it does a good sense for campaigning. It also needs leadership — and that’s why Starmer would do well to be more present in 2025. One of the regular complaints from Labour MPs is they rarely see him in person and that he is too often abroad. Johnson suffered similar criticism when he was prime minister — ultimately backbenchers will always want more time than they can get with their boss.
Spotlight
Theresa May
Her 2017 reset was overshadowed by a repeated cough, falling set and a prankster handing her a P45.
Boris Johnson
The former PM tried to calm a restive party with the promise of “Operation Red Meat” in early 2022, but it bought him only a little time
But the mood in the parliamentary Labour Party and the country shows that the current act is not connecting in the way it should. As Rishi Sunak showed with his five priorities — which also included a pledge to cut waiting lists — delivery is not enough alone. First, it is very hard to do — Sunak missed several of his targets. Second, voters and MPs need a bit more — there has to be a sense of greater purpose, there should be a difference between a technocrat and a political leader.
So, Starmer needs to answer to this on Thursday — along with what his government can actually do. The good news for the prime Minister is, unlike the cases of resets under May and Johnson, no one is seriously suggesting Starmer is on borrowed time. He has time to fix things — but if he doesn’t many will start to see the return of Labour to government after 14 years as a missed opportunity. The clock is ticking.
Katy Balls is political editor of The Spectator and a contributing editor for The London Standard
