(CN) — Leader of the British Labour Party and prospective Prime Minister Keir Starmer has laid out his intentions in a speech that fires the starting gun on a general election year in the United Kingdom.
Speaking at a news conference in Bristol on Thursday, Starmer railed against what he described as a “politics of divide and decline,” referring to the Conservative Party that has governed the country since 2010. In contrast, he presented his party as offering the British public “a decade of national renewal” and a “credible, frank hope.”
However, despite the positive message, Starmer also promised to “fight fire with fire” when questioned on the potential for the election campaign to turn dirty, warning that his opponents “will go low” and unleash “a gauntlet of fear.”
Piling pressure on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, he argued that an election should be held immediately, saying that Sunak did not possess a “personal mandate” to govern. Sunak was appointed prime minister internally by Conservative members of Parliament, following the short-lived premiership of grassroots favorite Liz Truss.
The government must legally hold an election by January 2025 at the latest, though it is widely expected to take place sooner. As the campaign edges ever closer, Starmer is under pressure to give more details on his plans for government — an area in which he has been notably tight-lipped, in the hope of reducing potential attack lines from his opponents.
Under particular scrutiny are plans to borrow 28 billion pounds ($35.6 billion) a year to fund a range of green investment schemes, such as home insulation and renewable energy. The investment is seen as central to Starmer’s plan for economic growth, which he says is essential to provide extra funding for public services, having ruled out any tax increases.
However, the plan has been watered down repeatedly. Having originally been billed as an annual sum, the 28 billion pound figure was later described as an aim to be achieved toward the end of the electoral term. Starmer has now further clarified the figure as an “ambition” which will depend on economic circumstances.
Labour strategists are extremely cautious of the party being painted as having a high-tax, high-spending agenda, as they attempt to appeal to “soft conservative” voters in crucial provincial town constituencies.
Sunak attacked Labour’s plan as “simply not credible,” stating that higher government spending would lead to increased inflation and taxes.
Starmer’s largely opaque governmental platform has enabled the media focus in recent years to remain on the Conservative Party, which has suffered a string of governing crises and a rotating door of prime ministers since Boris Johnson originally won a clear governing majority in 2019.
It is a strategy that has proved largely successful for the lawyer-turned-politician, with his party pulling a long way clear of the Conservatives in polling. The most recent poll from We Think puts Labour at 47% — a full 22 percentage points clear of their rivals. The large polling lead is fueling expectations that Labour will form a majority government in the British Parliament following the election.
Despite this, Starmer is not without his own internal critics. The former opposition finance minister of the Labour Party, John McDonnell, has said that his program lacks ambition and that failing to repair Britain’s crumbling public realm will serve to embolden far-right politics.
“The more significant danger from the far right then emerges if, having placed their faith in Labour, people do not see the change in our society that they hoped for after the election,” McDonnell wrote in The Guardian.
His message was echoed by key trade union leader Sharon Graham, who questioned the viability of Starmer’s platform. “Put simply, ‘project hope’ will require serious investment. Relying on growth to generate that investment is not realistic,” she said.
“We have not had significant growth since the 1970s,” Graham continued. “If we depend on growth to fund all the investment we need, it will only result in inertia. Britain needs a Labour government — but it needs it to be serious about real change.”
Despite the criticism, Labour’s large polling lead means that Starmer’s party remains mostly united behind him, even despite recent notable rebellions over the war in Gaza. But when it comes to publishing an election manifesto later in the year, there will be pressure to take clear positions on issues that Starmer has managed to dodge so far.
The date of that manifesto launch — and the general election itself — remains in limbo. On Thursday, Sunak ended weeks of speculation by stating that he expected it to take place in “the second half” of the year. Government briefing over a potential early November date has raised suspicions that it could end up clashing with the U.S. presidential election on Nov. 5.
However, Sunak's comments have also failed to dampen rumors that the Conservatives may be planning a snap election much sooner — possibly in May — to shield themselves from a backlash due to an expected drubbing in that month’s local elections.
While the date remains unconfirmed, the electioneering is already starting in what is likely to be a highly charged year of British politics.
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