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"Plan for Change" was a speech given by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on 5 December 2024, which heralded the launch of a strategic plan with the same name, said to be setting out "milestones for a mission-led government". [1]
The 2024 general election resulted in a landslide victory for the Labour Party led by Keir Starmer. The combined vote share for Labour and the Conservatives reached a record low, with smaller parties doing well. Labour returned to being the largest party in Scotland and remained so in Wales. The election was noted as the most disproportionate in modern British history, [2] mainly as a result of the first-past-the-post voting system. [3] [4] [5] [6] Starmer won a landslide victory at the general election and became prime minister, but with the smallest share of the electoral vote of any majority government since record-keeping of the popular vote began in 1830.
By the end of 2024, opinion polling for the Labour Party and Starmer's personal approval ratings had dropped significantly following several controversies including the Winter fuel payment abolition backlash, the riots, the freebies controversy involving Waheed Alli, Baron Alli and Taylor Swift, and the farmer protests. Controversy over his support for Israel in the Israel-Hamas war, which began during his tenure as opposition leader and led to Labour losing several seats in the election, continued into his premiership despite Starmer calling for a ceasefire. This culminated in a petition calling for an early general election on the UK Parliament website being started in November 2024 by publican and Conservative voter Michael Westwood, who said he launched it because he believed the Labour government had "gone back on the promises" the party made. Within days, the petition reached over 2 million signatures. Starmer responded to the petition by saying "I'm not surprised, quite frankly, that as we're doing the tough stuff there are plenty of people who say 'well I'm impacted, I don't like it'. But we've got to make the big calls on the NHS and on schools that are really important for the here and now and for the future." [7] [8]
On 1 December 2024, the Prime Minister's Office announced that Starmer would be giving a major speech setting out the key milestones the government wished to achieve in its "next phase", saying that he would present "the most ambitious yet honest programme for government in a generation". [9] The speech, titled "Plan for Change", was given at midday on 5 December at the Pinewood Studios in Iver Heath, to the west of London. [10] It was 54 minutes long and included a question-and-answer session. [11]
Starmer began the speech by saying that he wished to "show the British people that their country can still do great things" as well as "things they should be able to take for granted" such as "the basic functions of the state". [12] He then said that the contract between the British people and the British state was broken and that it was necessary to "fundamentally reform the way government goes about its business". [12] He accused the civil service of being too comfortable in a "tepid bath of managed decline" saying that too many civil servants had "forgotten, to paraphrase JFK, that you choose change, not because it's easy but because it's hard." [13]
He then said that his government's "Plan for Change" would do two things: doubling-down "on our national missions" and committing "Whitehall to mission-led government". [12] He further set six key milestones that he promised his government would reach by 2029:
The full plan was presented to the UK Parliament later the same day as a command paper. [15]
Starmer also announced that implementation of the reforms aimed for by the speech would be led by Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Pat McFadden and Cabinet Secretary Chris Wormald. [13]
Sky News' political editor Beth Rigby stated that "even the most loyal cabinet members would quietly admit it's been a rocky run for Sir Keir Starmer and Labour" in the first five months of Starmer's government and that the speech aimed to give "clear markers on which to measure this government and Whitehall - a sharp navigation tool for a government that has been somewhat buffeted by side winds since taking office." [16]
Several commentators interpreted the speech as emphasising civil service reform. [17] [18] [19] BBC political editor Chris Mason stated that Starmer aimed "to create a story about what they are trying to achieve so when the prime minister and his cabinet ministers are out and about they have stuff to point to about what they are focused on" and that, in Starmer's office, there appeared to be "a growing frustration with the capacity of the government machine to do what they believe needs doing." [20] Kate McCann of the i stated that Starmer's speech would face difficulties in convincing the public given that he "has inherited a country where patience for politicians has already hit rock bottom," suggesting that the speech may have been aimed towards the civil service instead, saying that "the most important thing to take away is: the message to the country may sound samey, but the message to Whitehall could not have been clearer – shape up or we'll force you to." [21]
Katy Balls of the i stated that "no one in government wants to call Keir Starmer's speech a reset moment" and that "it's hard to see this as a lightning bolt moment that will reverse Starmer's falling approval ratings." [22]
The Resolution Foundation criticised Starmer's milestone on disposable household income as "the bare minimum of any functioning government". [23] Domestic violence charity Refuge criticised the speech for failing "to address the horrific epidemic of violence against women and girls and domestic abuse that we are in." [24] Civil service union FDA criticised the speech for its attacks on civil servants, saying that there were many "who are frustrated by a lack of resources, burnt out from constantly working excess hours, tired of chaotic political leadership and sick of being scapegoated for the failures of ministers". [25]
Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch criticised the speech, saying "Costly plans for energy decarbonisation watered-down – while poor pensioners lose their winter fuel payments. This relaunch can't hide the reality of a government that doesn't know what it is doing." [26]
Labour Party senior advisor Peter Hyman praised the speech, saying that there was "a culture that is not geared towards innovation" in the civil service, and that "a lot of civil servants are incredibly paranoid about taking any risks because they fear they'll be called in front of a select committee". [27]
Diane Julie Abbott is a British Labour Party politician who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Hackney North and Stoke Newington since 1987. She served in the Shadow Cabinet of Jeremy Corbyn as Shadow Home Secretary from 2016 to 2020 and is an advisor to the Privy Council. She was the first black woman elected to parliament and is the longest-serving black MP.
The Labour Party Conference is the annual conference of the British Labour Party. It is formally the supreme decision-making body of the party and is traditionally held in the final week of September, during the party conference season when the House of Commons is in recess, after each year's second Liberal Democrat Conference and before the Conservative Party Conference. The Labour Party Conference opens on a Sunday and finishes the following Wednesday, with an address by the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party; the Leader's address is usually on the Tuesday. In contrast to the Liberal Democrat Conference, where every party member attending its Conference, either in-person or online, has the right to vote on party policy, under a one member, one vote system, or the Conservative Party Conference, which does not hold votes on party policy, at the Labour Party Conference, 50% of votes are allocated to affiliated organisations, and the other 50% to Constituency Labour Parties, but all voting in both categories is restricted to nominated representatives. Conference decisions are not binding on the party leadership, even if carried unanimously.
SirKeir Rodney Starmer is a British politician who has served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom since 2024 and as Leader of the Labour Party since 2020. He previously served as Leader of the Opposition from 2020 to 2024. He has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Holborn and St Pancras since 2015, and was Director of Public Prosecutions from 2008 to 2013.
Lisa Eva Nandy is a British Labour Party politician serving as Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport since 2024. She has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Wigan since 2010. Nandy previously served as Shadow Foreign Secretary, Shadow Levelling Up Secretary, Shadow Energy Secretary and Shadow International Development Minister.
Jonathan Neil Reynolds is a British politician who has served as Secretary of State for Business and Trade and President of the Board of Trade since July 2024. A member of the Labour and Co-operative parties, he has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Stalybridge and Hyde since 2010.
Angela Rayner is a British politician who has served as Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government since July 2024. She has been Deputy Leader of the Labour Party since 2020 and Labour and Co-operative Member of Parliament (MP) for Ashton-under-Lyne since 2015. Ideologically she identifies as a socialist and as being part of Labour's soft left.
Louise Margaret Haigh is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for Transport from July to November 2024. A member of the Labour Party, she has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Sheffield Heeley since 2015. She held various shadow ministerial and shadow cabinet portfolios between 2015 and 2024.
Susan Gray is a British special adviser and former civil servant who served as Downing Street Chief of Staff under Prime Minister Keir Starmer from July to October 2024, having previously served under Starmer as Chief of Staff to the Leader of the Opposition from 2023 to 2024.
The 2024 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday, 4 July 2024, to elect 650 members of Parliament to the House of Commons, the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The opposition Labour Party, led by Keir Starmer, defeated the governing Conservative Party, led by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, in a landslide victory.
Keir Starmer assumed the position of Leader of the Opposition after being elected as leader of the Labour Party on 4 April 2020; the election was triggered by Jeremy Corbyn's resignation following the Labour Party's electoral defeat at the 2019 general election when Boris Johnson formed a majority Conservative government. Starmer appointed his Shadow Cabinet on 5 and 6 April. He reshuffled his Shadow Cabinet five times: in June 2020, May 2021, June 2021, November 2021 and 2023.
The political positions of Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom since 2024 and Leader of the Labour Party since 2020, have frequently changed. Views of his political philosophy are diverse.
On 29 November 2021, Keir Starmer, Leader of the Opposition in the United Kingdom, carried out a reshuffle of his shadow cabinet. The slimmed down shadow cabinet, was seen to be Starmer creating a top team in his own image.
Beergate was a British political controversy concerning allegations that an event in Durham on 30 April 2021, attended by Labour Party leader Keir Starmer and Deputy Leader Angela Rayner, could have been in breach of COVID-19 lockdown restrictions. Labour and Starmer said, at the time and since, that the event complied with the rules for work gatherings, with a pause for food. The police, after investigating, cleared the Labour attendees, including Starmer and Rayner.
Rishi Sunak's tenure as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom began on 25 October 2022 when he accepted an invitation from King Charles III to form a government, succeeding Liz Truss, and ended on 5 July 2024 upon his resignation. He is the first British Asian and the first Hindu to hold the office. Sunak's premiership was dominated by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Israel-Hamas war, the cost-of-living crisis, and the Rwanda asylum plan. As prime minister, Sunak also served simultaneously as First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service, and Minister for the Union.
Keir Starmer served as Leader of the Opposition from April 2020, following the resignation of Jeremy Corbyn after Labour's defeat at the 2019 general election and Starmer's election as Labour leader in the ensuing leadership election, until his party won a landslide victory at the 2024 general election in July 2024. During his tenure, Starmer moved Labour toward the political centre and emphasised the elimination of antisemitism within the party.
A list of events relating to politics and government in the United Kingdom during 2024.
A State Opening of the Parliament of the United Kingdom took place on 17 July 2024 when King Charles III opened the first session of the Parliament elected in 2024, which was the first after the 2024 general election. Charles III delivered the King's Speech, his second as monarch, and the first since returning to his public duties after receiving treatment for cancer earlier in the year. The King set out the UK government's legislative programme for the following parliamentary session.
Keir Starmer's tenure as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom began on 5 July 2024 when he accepted an invitation from King Charles III to form a government, succeeding Rishi Sunak of the Conservative Party. As prime minister, Starmer is serving concurrently as First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service, and Minister for the Union.
The Border Security Command (BSC) is a law enforcement agency in the United Kingdom to be responsible for coordinating the activities of Immigration Enforcement, MI5, Border Force and the National Crime Agency to attempt to tackle smuggling gangs which facilitate illegal migrant crossings over the English Channel. The first steps towards establishing it was announced in July 2024 by Home Secretary Yvette Cooper to replace the Rwanda asylum plan and will be led by the Border Security Commander, who will answer to the Home Secretary.
The British Prime Minister Keir Starmer gave a speech on 28 November 2024 concerning immigration to the United Kingdom.
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