Is it Too Late for U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer to Turn Things Around?

Embattled Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who may face a leadership challenge in the near future (Flickr).

The Labour Party and its leader, Prime Minister Keir Starmer, were swept into power just over a year ago, winning 412 of the 650 seats in the large British Parliament, the second-largest majority ever won by Labour. However, Starmer’s prime ministership is already in trouble. He is down 10 percent to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK, according to Politico’s poll of polls, and the public view is that his government has achieved nothing of note. 

To make matters worse, he recently had to let his deputy prime minister, Angela Rayner, resign over a tax scandal and sack his ambassador to the United States, Peter Mendelson, because of his ties to Jeffrey Epstein, according to the BBC. These events led to some internal discussions among Labour members of parliament, as some are worried about Starmer’s judgment and fear for their jobs.

This fear has led members of the Labour Party to look elsewhere for a leader, and they seem to have found it in Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham. According to Sky News, two-thirds of Labour members would prefer Burnham over Starmer. Burnham is a political veteran, having been minister under the government of Gordon Brown and a shadow minister under Ed Miliband. He also stood for leadership twice, losing to Miliband and Jeremy Corbyn before he ultimately chose to leave parliament. When asked by the Associated Press about the possibility of Burnham challenging him for the leadership role, Starmer responded, “In politics, there are always going to be comments about leaders and leadership”.

One major challenge that Burnham must overcome to become the leader is the fact that he does not hold a seat in parliament, a necessity for anyone who wishes to contend for Labour leadership. As reported by the Independent, while Burnham is the frontrunner, his situation means that someone already in parliament, such as Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy, or even former Labour leader Ed Miliband, could lead the internal opposition.

While some think Starmer is finished, he does not seem like he is going to let go of the prime ministership that easily. He recently unveiled his new plan to “renew Britain” at the U.K. Labour conference in order to fight back against Reform UK, as reported by the BBC. At the conference, Starmer tried to reclaim patriotism from Reform saying, "I'm not just proud of the Union Jack and the Cross of St. George, I'm also proud of the saltire, proud of the red dragon, proud of our union."

If Starmer is able to make this new line of renewal stick, there could be a chance that he can keep his job at least until the next election in 2029. However, this may be the last chance he is given by the party, and if things get worse, he may be on his way out the door.