There were two insurgent right-wing populists looming over Sir Keir Starmer’s local election launch on Thursday.
Donald Trump, because the US president’s “Liberation Day” tariffs threaten to blow the PM’s “plan for change” out of the water. And Nigel Farage, who Sir Keir fears will snap up hundreds of local council seats in Reform UK’s first major test since the general election.
The Reform UK leader has promised to field candidates in 99 per cent of the seats up for grabs, and could stamp his party’s authority as a real electoral force, not just a passing fad, in the polls amid anger among voters at Labour’s failings.
Sir Keir addressed the Conservatives’ record in national and local government, with deputy PM Angela Rayner and Labour chair Ellie Reeves both piling in on the Tory party’s failings over its 14 years in power.
But, making his pitch to voters ahead of polling day next month, it was all too clear that Sir Keir is focused on what he sees as the threat of the future – Reform – having vanquished the now dishevelled Conservatives in July.
The prime minister called for voters to get behind Labour nationally and locally, lashing out at “the parties that continue to put themselves before the country”. “I’m not just talking about the Tories,” he said.
He then launched into the most impassioned part of his speech, saying: “They can’t even run themselves. You can literally fit their MPs now in the back of a cab ... and they still don’t know where they’re going.”
He went on: “They talk the language of workers’ rights. They talk it all right online, sometimes on the doorsteps. But what do they do? They voted against banning fire-and-rehire. They voted against scrapping exploitative zero-hour contracts.
“They voted against sick leave and maternity pay. That’s what they do. And what about the NHS? They want to charge people for using our NHS. They claim to be the party of patriotism. I’ll tell you this: there’s nothing patriotic about fawning over Putin.”
Sir Keir, Ms Rayner and Ms Reeves also peppered their speeches with references to tangible local matters such as potholes and community issues, with messaging from the anti-populist playbook of the PM’s chief of staff Morgan McSweeney.
Labour has steadily been ramping up its attacks on Reform as the party rises in the polls, with figures in Downing Street becoming increasingly aware of the threat Mr Farage’s party poses.
As well as threatening to pick up hundreds of council seats next month, Reform are frontrunners for the Runcorn and Helsby by-election to replace former Labour MP Mike Amesbury, who stood down after being convicted of punching a constituent.
Sir Keir’s attacks on the right-wing party follow the establishment of a group of 80+ Labour backbenchers to try to halt Reform’s rise. Government figures are also increasingly targeting the party: health secretary Wes Streeting used a recent hospital visit to warn against Reform’s stance on the NHS, with Labour confident they can convince voters that the health service is not safe in Mr Farage’s hands.
Sir Keir again referred to Reform in his Q&A with journalists, repeating the well-worn lines about Reform’s stance on Putin, workers’ rights and the NHS.
It was clear from the local election launch who Sir Keir sees as the real challenge next month, but if Mr Farage can ride out internal party rows and criticism over his closeness with Mr Trump, it looks unlikely that attacks from the PM will be able to halt his momentum.
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