Yet his words show that Starmer is caught in a dilemma of his own making. Dismissed by many on his own side as a weak leader, he is determined to signal to the country – and his party – that things will improve, while declining to make big adjustments to his overall policy direction.
Next week, he will set out Britain’s legislative agenda for the coming year via the King’s Speech, including tighter settlement rules for migrants, a rollout of digital ID, and votes for 16-year-olds. Yet all these plans were known to MPs already and locked down two weeks ago, and Labour aides studiously avoid using the word “reset.” Messaging around the speech is expected to focus on national resilience, stability, and economic growth, rather than radical change, said an official briefed on its contents.
Likewise, aides are drawing up plans for a speech by Starmer on Monday that will pitch to young voters who Labour lost on Thursday to the Green Party, including reinforcing his commitment to closer alignment with the EU. One MP elected in the landslide class of 2024 — the group most at risk of a reversal at the next general election — described it as “make or break.”
By Friday evening, a trickle of backbench MPs had started to call for Starmer to go — either immediately, or if he fails to rapidly overhaul his leadership. Downing Street will hope it doesn’t represent a bursting of the dam.
Labour isn’t alone in facing voter disenchantment with established parties, Deborah Mattinson, Starmer’s director of strategy at the last election, told POLITICO, but “there aren’t any quick fixes” for their frustrations. “We’re dealing with industrial-scale voter disillusionment — a sense that the social contract that voters bought into is gone,” Mattinson said. She added: “Labour has a moral mission to try to reach those working-class voters who are feeling left behind and that the economy is not working for them.”
Two officials with knowledge of the planned remarks said the prime minister is likely to reiterate his existing policy on the EU. One of the two officials said a tight group of aides is still working out how much policy will be in the Monday speech.