First 100 days of work in UK hailed as ‘worst start in living memory’ | Political news

London, United Kingdom – Keir Starmer, who will celebrate his first 100 days in office as British prime minister on Saturday, is unpopular.

According to a YouGov poll on October 8, the 62-year-old former barrister’s approval ratings have fallen to their lowest level since taking over as Labor leader in 2020, with his popularity falling further since he was prime minister.

More than six in 10 Britons now dislike Starmer, YouGov reported.

“It’s easily the worst start to a government’s time in office in living memory, and it wasn’t as if Labor was that popular anyway,” said Tim Bale, professor of politics at Queen Mary University from London, on Al Jazeera.

On July 4, Starmer led his opposition party to a resounding election victory and a large majority in Parliament, sweeping the Conservatives, in power for more than a decade, into the shadows.

But turnout was low, around 50 percent, the poorest level as a percentage of the population since universal suffrage.

“The freebies issue is the most immediate issue (the worker) needs to put behind him because it has damaged his brand,” Bale said.

“In the long term, the main problems, as always, are the economy and the NHS. If the government gets them right, they have a chance of recovering.”

A donation scandal has dominated the headlines in recent weeks.

Starmer, whose annual salary is now around 167,000 pounds ($218,000), has said he has received gifts worth more than 100,000 pounds ($131,000) over the past five years, meaning he has accepted more gifts than any other member of parliament during that period. , including some after being elected as Prime Minister.

News of the accommodation costs, expensive glasses, Taylor Swift concert tickets, football match tickets, clothes and other gifts she has accepted have angered the British public, many of whom are still struggling with a cost of living crisis.

Starmer’s donors include wealthy Labor Lord Waheed Alli and the Premier League.

Accepting gifts is legal, but because Labor is traditionally a left-wing party that prides itself on values ​​such as equality and transparency, the Prime Minister and other Labor MPs who have given gifts are being accused of greed.

There are also questions about influence.

Henry Newman, a former Tory political adviser and director of The Whitehall Project on Substack, told the Financial Times: “(Starmer’s) personal donor Alli had privileged access to Downing Street while working both on fundraising and in government appointments. The government must clarify Lord Alli’s exact role, otherwise concerns about cronyism will continue to grow.”

“It’s been a pretty shaky start”

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has also upset a large part of society by capping the winter fuel payment for pensioners, meaning around 10 million older people will no longer receive a few hundred pounds of relief as energy companies raise prices this winter.

“It’s been a pretty shaky start,” said Anand Menon, professor of European politics and foreign affairs at King’s College London. “The surprise was how badly they took it.”

He thinks Labor has a PR problem.

“They’ve allowed (the donations scandal) to be history … They failed quickly enough to provide a coherent coordinated response,” he said.

“What you want is for the government to come in and tell a story about where we are and where they’re taking us, and really drive that narrative home. For the first few months in government, there hasn’t been a narrative, and I think that’s why there’s been a hole. Everyone’s waiting for the budget.”

Reeves, who accepted a £7,500 ($9,800) donation before the election to use on clothing, will unveil the budget on October 30. There is speculation that the government could raise some taxes, such as capital gains and inheritance.

As well as denying the wealthiest pensioners the winter fuel payment, Labor has made it clear the state pension will rise by 4 per cent and pledged to keep its election promise to add VAT to rates private schools.

In September, Starmer, Reeves and Deputy First Minister Angela Rayner tried to draw a line under the donation scandal, saying they would no longer accept free clothes.

According to Steven Fielding, a politics professor at the University of Nottingham who is currently writing a book analyzing the Labor Party since the 1970s, the Starmer administration has been “stumbling” rather than “moving purposefully into the future”. .

He said Labor had “completely misunderstood” the time period in which the majority of British voters live, “who want jam today, not tomorrow, although it is not unreasonable to expect it”.

“It really doesn’t help that the two dominant themes to come out of this (100-day) period have been handouts and poor old pensioners losing their winter fuel payments.”

While neither issue is “as bad” as the headlines suggest, since politicians accepting donations is nothing new and because the payout will still go to tens of millions of pensioners who need it, “this is what take away,” Fielding said.

Away from Whitehall, Starmer’s first days in office were rocked by race riots across the country following a fatal stabbing attack on young girls in northern England. Online agitators, fanning the flames of division, imagined a suspected Muslim migrant to blame and succeeded in rousing thousands to riot.

Starmer backed what his home secretary called “swift justice” against the rioters, winning praise for his calm but firm response.

However, far-right MP Nigel Farage led the prime minister’s critics, a group that includes billionaire Elon Musk, in accusing the government of “two-tiered” police oversight, suggesting without evidence that minority groups and the left are punished less severely than whites. criminals

Amid riots, a scandal and a financial blow to pensioners, some of Labour’s less dramatic promises have fallen off the radar.

In September, Starmer promised a 10-year plan to improve the NHS, saying there would be no extra funding for the health service before the reform.

A major issue in the election campaign, the majority of Britons will be affected by any changes to the health service, which is plagued by challenges such as long waiting lists and staff shortages.

“Labor will definitely be hoping that the first 100 days are not at the forefront of anyone’s mind when there’s a next election,” Fielding said.

“I mean, can you tell me what the first 100 days of (former Tory Prime Minister) Boris Johnson’s government were like? I sure can’t.”