Starmer has a reasonable list of achievements in power but has undermined himself with a lack of political storytellingNet migration down by three-quarters, the biggest fall in NHS waiting lists for 17 years, knife crime cut by 10%, the economy growing the fastest in the G7, rising wages, energy bills and petrol prices held down, the biggest sustained rise in defence spending since the cold war, a massive expansion of free childcare …If Keir Starmer did tub-thumping lists of Lab
Andy Burnham appears more able to tell a story about his successes in office than Keir Starmer.
Composite: James Manning/PA Wire Andy Burnham appears more able to tell a story about his successes in office than Keir Starmer.
Composite: James Manning/PA Wire Analysis Badenoch says Labour ‘just want a better salesman’. It would be a good start Rowena Mason Whitehall editor Starmer has a reasonable list of achievements in power but has undermined himself with a lack of political storytelling Net migration down by three-quarters, the biggest fall in NHS waiting lists for 17 years, knife crime cut by 10%, the economy growing the fastest in the G7, rising wages, energy bills and petrol prices held down, the biggest sustained rise in defence spending since the cold war, a massive expansion of free childcare … If Keir Starmer did tub-thumping lists of Labour’s achievements in the style of Gordon Brown , he would not actually have a shortage of things to talk about.
Brown may have been laughed at for his thunderous – and sometimes monotonous – recitals of all the good that a Labour government was doing. Likewise, George Osborne was mocked for his repetitive sloganising about his “long-term economic plan” and “fixing the roof while the sun is shining”. But forging a narrative and then relentlessly hammering it home is an essential part of telling voters what your government is about – and one that Starmer has failed to establish.
Starmer has cycled through messaging – the five missions, plan for change, and deliver, deliver, deliver – without settling on an effective list of his achievements to be repeated at every opportunity.
One former Labour adviser says the problem is a “lack of Labour myth-making”, while an MP says they wonder if No 10 is too squeamish about heralding its reduction in migration numbers and commitments on defence spending as an achievement – remembering the backlash against Ed Miliband within the party about his promotional “controls on immigration” mug .
Labour has attempted to fill the gap with adverts and online material showcasing the party’s milestones, along with a website catchily called What Has Keir Done . However, the list is confused and lacklustre: one of the first points says he has “secured a £400m investment to boost clinical trials, improving NHS services and driving growth”.
At prime minister’s questions, Starmer tried to generate positivity around the waiting lists and economic news. But the messaging that Labour is improving people’s lives is not strong enough. The prime minister’s seeming inability to tell the story of Labour in government is a central reason why his MPs are turning elsewhere – whether to Andy Burnham , Wes Streeting or another candidate who they think can better articulate to the country why the party should be given an extension in power.
Streeting attempted a more uplifting tone as a he gave a quasi-leadership pitch in the House of Commons on Wednesday, highlighting his record on bringing down waiting lists and saying: “I don’t believe our party has time to waste in government treading water. The Labour party was elected to deliver real change. We still can.” However, Burnham appears most able to blend a story about his successes in government and Manchester – the Hillsborough law, putting the buses in public ownership, the country’s fastest-growing regional economy – with a sense of hope that he can transfer that to wider change for the country .
Kemi Badenoch thought she was insulting Labour MPs by saying they were “not getting rid of the prime minister over his terrible agenda – they just want a better salesman”.
No one knows yet whether Burnham would have any substantially different policies, as he is yet to set any out, beyond broad principles about “Manchesterism” . But MPs and seemingly the country think a better salesperson might be a good start: polls suggest a change from Starmer to Burnham could considerably improve the government’s popularity.
It seems a more optimistic outlook, promise of deeper change, and better storytelling about national renewal could be Labour’s best hopes of taking on the populist right.
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