Keir Starmer moaned that Labour did not give his ‘plan’ enough time to work today as he faces leaving No10 after just two years.
In a self-justifying 1,600 word essay, the outgoing PM claimed the effects of his policies are only just ‘shining through’ and the country is in a ‘better place’.
Despite official figures showing disposable incomes for households dropping amid his monster tax raids, Sir Keir insisted working people had been getting steadily better off.
He also boasted about the ‘courage’ it took to turn the Labour Party around after the Corbyn era, saying ‘no-one thought it was possible’.
However, even as the piece was published on Substack, his deputy Lucy Powell was swiping that Sir Keir had to go because he ‘lost the dressing room’.
Andy Burnham looks nailed on to take over as PM on July 20 in a Labour ‘coronation’, after Sir Keir finally bowed to pressure and quit.
Keir Starmer moaned that Labour did not give his ‘plan’ enough time to work today as he faces leaving No10 after just two years
Andy Burnham looks nailed on to take over as PM on July 20 in a Labour ‘coronation’, after Sir Keir finally bowed to pressure and quit last week
The premier has been busily rushing out ‘legacy’ announcements, including the long-awaited Defence Investment Plan and an apology for historic forced adoption.
Sir Keir will take his bow on the world stage this week when he attends a Nato summit in Turkey, meaning another awkward encounter with Donald Trump.
In his article, released two years to the day after his triumphant entry to No10, the PM portrayed himself as ‘passing the torch’ to Mr Burnham. In reality the former Greater Manchester Mayor staged a coup after winning the Makerfield by-election.
Sir Keir said ‘it was always the plan to confront the toughest decisions early in the political cycle’.
‘The reason was simple: we needed to get Britain moving forward as quickly as possible,’ he wrote.
‘Equally, it was always the plan that the benefits would start to be visible now.’
Sir Keir complained that people had not understood the ‘notion that it was also the plan that our defining Labour purpose would start to shine through more clearly as the Parliament progressed too’.
‘Some people might find that a strange thing to say. And I freely admit that one of the failings of my Government has been our struggle to boil the good work we have done into a simple and accessible vision for Britain’s future,’ he said.
‘However, in truth, I always felt this would be hard in the first phase of the Government – the sheer weight and scope of Britain’s problems mitigate against that.’
Sir Keir said he had focused on ‘stable’ public finances, the planning system, industrial strategy and AI.
He acknowledged that the ‘economy isn’t booming’ but blamed ‘unfavourable global circumstances’ – saying he was ‘proud’ that the country was ‘doing better than our peers’.
‘Government borrowing is on track to come down quicker than any of our peers. And every single month we have been in power, wages have risen for working people,’ he said.
Official figures last week showed disposable incomes of households tumbled 0.8 per cent in the first quarter of the year, accounting for inflation.
The RHDI per head metric – explicitly targeted by Sir Keir – has now dropped in four of the last five quarters and is lower than when Labour started in power.
Turning to his progress in resurrecting Labour, having taken over as leader in 2020 and secured a huge majority in 2024, Sir Keir said: ‘Whatever anybody feels about the Government’s record, to have turned this around in one political cycle is an achievement absolutely nobody thought possible back in 2020.
‘Even the people who voted for me and wished me well did not think it could be done.
‘And it was hard. It took a lot of courage, from a lot of people, most of whom received nothing like the credit that I did. That is a wider point: all the progress we made as a party belongs not just to the politicians, but to everyone who believed in the possibility of change and helped make it happen.’
Sir Keir admitted that the Labour Party was ‘frustrating’, but urged Mr Burnham to take forward a ‘battle for the soul of the nation’.
‘At the end of the day, the Labour Party is the vehicle for social justice in this country,’ he wrote.
‘It can be a frustrating vehicle – we certainly all feel that at times. But remove it and the forces of reaction, conservatism and grievance are free to turn Britain against itself unhindered.
‘There is always some truth to that sweeping statement, but right now it feels a more urgent fight – a battle for the soul of the nation, as I have said elsewhere.
‘It is a fight my successor must now lead and I wish them the very best in their endeavours. It is vital they succeed and they will do so with a strong foundation to build upon.’
Official figures released last week showed that household incomes tumbled 0.8 per cent in the first quarter of the year, accounting for inflation
Appearing on Sky News this morning, Ms Powell – a close ally of Mr Burnham – said she did not want to ‘dwell’ on Sir Keir’s departure.
She said there was a ‘huge amount to be proud of’ but a sense of hope was ‘the thing that people felt has been a bit missing’.
‘It got to the point where… as the manager of the team the PM had lost the dressing room. Then he has to decide how he wants to take that forward,’ she said.
‘We have made some mistakes and those mistakes have overshadowed at times some of the really good things we have done.’
