Labour's first 100 days: Not half as bad as it looks

Despite several unforced errors, Keir Starmer's start is a vast improvement on his predecessors. "Worst in living memory"? Maybe if you're a toddler. The Lead's editors weigh in.

Photo by N R on Unsplash

Zoe Grunewald

- Westminster Editor: So far, Labour has performed rather well on policy. They’ve stuck to their new deal for workers and fiscal discipline, with bold moves like rail nationalisation and Great British Energy—policies that show ambition the previous government could neither dream of nor deliver.

And yet, this wasn’t the smoothest of starts. One resignation, two rebellions, and several Taylor Swift tickets later, it’s fair to say that the first 100 days haven’t been the easiest for the government. The party, which campaigned on a platform of sensible, grown-up delivery, has been sidetracked by a scandal over freebies. Their slow response showed inexperience and underestimated the level of public distrust in politicians.

The upcoming budget poses their biggest test yet, with expected tax hikes and spending cuts likely to provoke both the right and the left. Some are quietly wondering if Labour should have delivered this statement over the summer, easing speculation and giving the media something else substantial to focus on. Hindsight is a marvellous thing.

Now, two challenges lie ahead: keeping the Office for Budget Responsibility on board and inspiring fiscal confidence—key to the economic growth that underpins Labour’s plan. Too radical, and markets might panic; too cautious, and stagnation will continue. Labour also needs to manage restless MPs, particularly those worried about the impact of policies like the winter fuel cut on elderly constituents. More decisions that seem to target vulnerable voters could risk losing already waning party support.

One hundred days in, governance has only just begun.

Dimi Reider

- National Editor: There are two stories about Labour’s first 100 days in office. One is that of some vindication for those of us - myself included - who hoped Keir Starmer would govern more progressively than he campaigned. A clear commitment to nationalising the railways (and the restoration of the HS2 plan to extend to Euston and Manchester); scrapping Ofsted’s brutal, deeply damaging one-word reviews and moving away from the Tory fixation on school discipline; lifting the ban on on-shore wind and approving enormous new solar farms; shutting down the odious Bibby Stockholm and the even more odious Rwanda scheme; withdrawing some, although not nearly enough, arms export licences to Israel; and finally giving up the embarrassing imperial cosplay of holding on to the Chagos Islands. The forceful response to far-right riots also deserves a mention, although one does hope to see a longer-term approach that focuses on investment in social cohesion, not merely on punishment. 

The other story is the one you’ll be reading in most recaps of these 100 days - mostly to the tune of Tim Bale over at Al Jazeera the worst “in living memory.” This, of course, is only true if you’re a toddler. Anyone older should remember another prime minister, as little as four years ago, who began his term by catastrophically mishandling the onset of a pandemic, cementing the worst possible version of Brexit into law and screwing up response to widespread flooding. (Or, you know, an even more recent prime minister who tanked the economy and failed to outlast a lettuce, barely making it to half of that magic number.) And anyway, 100 days is somewhat of an arbitrary Americanism. It’s an imperfect yardstick, to say the least, against which to measure a government in a system where Parliament is supreme and legislation takes considerable time - even if these 100 days are not interrupted by a summer recess. And one has to account for the transparently hostile coverage by much of the right-wing media: From endless headlines about the rich packing up and leaving Britain (they’re not) to entire papers clutching pearls at Sue Gray’s salary when they pay some columnists, never mind senior editors, considerably more.  

But still, it’s hard not to admit this government’s beginnings have been patchy. My colleagues elaborate on these mistakes, so I won’t belabour them here; but I would say that alongside the regrettable proneness of some Labour figures to earnest centrism and even small-c conservatism, the party appears to be underestimating its victory and the narrative power that comes with it. What’s missing, above all, is an inspiring story that appeals to the best of the perceived national character. We need to hear about the building of a new country, not the patching up of the moulding mess bequeathed by the Conservatives. A story like that would contextualise many of the difficulties of that process - and do away with the need for weird concessions to conservative sensibilities, like the criminal folly of the 2-child benefit cap. Let’s hope that at least from the budget onwards, Labour will start getting its story straight.

Jamie Lopez -

The Lancashire Lead

: Up here in Lancashire, as results started to roll in during the early hours of July 5, Labour could be forgiven for thinking all their dreams had come true. Alongside a return to Government and a national landslide, the party had won almost all of our county. The only exceptions were in Blackburn - where independent Adnan Hussain won - and Fylde - where ex-police and crime commissioner Andrew Snowden claimed the Tories’ only seat. With that, eight new Labour MPs were sent from Lancashire to Westminster in addition to Blackpool South’s Chris Webb who had only been elected two months earlier.

If they hoped for any sort of honeymoon period, it’s proved to be very short lived.

Most notably, the winter fuel allowance vote placed many of the newly elected, and longer-standing, representatives in an unenviable position - caught between backing their party and being seen to support a hated policy that took much-needed money from the elderly. Meanwhile, the 2024 intake seemed to be using their new platforms to build an argument against proceeding with the previously agreed devolution deal - only for the government to announce it was going ahead after all.

There have been successes for Lancashire's Labour representation in the past 100 days but the challenges now are to both earn more of them and find ways to make sure the public can see it happening.

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This week, Lillian recommends The Substance - a new feminist body horror film well worth the hype. Dimi recommends The Anti-Rockstar - an insightful, elegant essay on Leonard Cohen by the inimitable Stephen Metcalf, over at The Atlantic.

Have a beautiful autumnal weekend,

The Lead.