This article summarises the views and voting record of Keir Starmer, who has been Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition in the United Kingdom since 4 April 2020. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for Holborn and St Pancras from 2015 to 2024, and was previously Director of Public Prosecutions and Head of the Crown Prosecution Service from 2008 to 2013.
Starmer's politics have been described as unclear and "hard to define". [1] [2] [3] The term Starmerism has been coined to refer to Starmer's political ideology and his supporters have been called Starmerites. When he was elected as Labour leader, Starmer was widely believed to belong to the soft left of the Labour Party. However, he has since moved to the political centre-ground. Following the 2023 shadow cabinet reshuffle, Starmer was concluded by most analysts to have moved to the right of the party, and had demoted and marginalised those on the soft left, replacing them with Blairites.
Part of a series on |
Socialism |
---|
The term Starmerism has been coined to refer to Keir Starmer's political ideology and his supporters have been called Starmerites. [4] [5] In June 2023, Starmer gave an interview to Time where he was asked to define Starmerism: [6]
Recognizing that our economy needs to be fixed. Recognizing that [solving] climate change isn't just an obligation; it's the single biggest opportunity that we've got for our country going forward. Recognizing that public services need to be reformed, that every child and every place should have the best opportunities and that we need a safe environment, safe streets, et cetera.
In April 2023, Starmer gave an interview to The Economist on defining Starmerism. [5] [7] In this interview, two main strands of Starmerism were identified. [7] The first strand focused on a critique of the British state for being too ineffective and over-centralised. The answer to this critique was to base governance on five main missions [ broken anchor ] to be followed over two terms of government; these missions would determine all government policy. The second strand was the adherence to an economic policy of "modern supply-side economics" based on expanding economic productivity by increasing participation in the labour market, mitigating the impact of Brexit and simplifying the construction planning process. [7]
Starmer wrote articles for the magazines Socialist Alternatives and Socialist Lawyer as a young man in the 1980s and 1990s. [8] In July 1986, Starmer wrote in the first issue of Socialist Alternatives that trade unions should have had control over the "industry and community". [8] He wrote in Socialist Lawyer that "Karl Marx was, of course, right" in saying it was pointless to believe a change of society could only be achieved by arguing about fundamental rights. [8]
Gavin Millar, a former legal colleague of Starmer, has described his politics as "red-green", a characterisation Starmer has agreed with. [9] In a January 2020 interview, Starmer described himself as a socialist, [10] and stated in an opinion piece published by The Guardian the same month that his advocacy of socialism is motivated by "a burning desire to tackle inequality and injustice". [11]
In an interview with the i 's Francis Elliott in December 2021, Starmer refused to characterise himself as a socialist, asking "What does that mean?" He added: "The Labour Party is a party that believes that we get the best from each other when we come together, collectively, and ensure that you know, we give people both opportunity and support as they needed." [12]
In 2023, Starmer removed the ten socialism-based pledges that he had made in the 2020 party leadership contest from his website, after having abandoned or rolled back on many of these, citing the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic situation as reasons for having to "adapt". [13] [14] However, in the run-up to the 2024 general election, Starmer told the BBC "I would describe myself as a socialist. I describe myself as a progressive. I'd describe myself as somebody who always puts the country first and party second". [15]
Starmer has repeatedly emphasised the reform of public institutions (against a so-called tax and spend approach), localism, and devolution. He has pledged to abolish the House of Lords, which he has described as "indefensible", during the first term of a Labour government and to replace it with a directly-elected 'Assembly of the Regions and Nations', but the details of which will be subject to public consultation. He criticised the Conservative Party for handing peerages to "cronies and donors". [16] Upon becoming leader of the Labour Party, he tasked former Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown with recommending British constitutional reforms. [17] The report was published in 2022 and was endorsed and promoted by Starmer, and recommended the abolition of the House of Lords, extending greater powers to local councils and mayors, and deeper devolution to the countries of the United Kingdom. [18] Labour's 2024 election manifesto Change , however, did not recommend abolition to the House of Lords, instead committing only to removal of the remaining hereditary peers from the chamber, setting a mandatory retirement age of 80, and beginning a consultation on replacing the Lords with a "more representative" body. [19]
Starmer supports social ownership and investment in the UK's public services, including the National Health Service (NHS). [20] [21] [22] During the 2020 Labour leadership election, he pledged to increase income tax for the top 5% of earners and to end corporate tax avoidance, [20] but receded from the income tax commitment in 2023. [23] He advocates the reversal of the Conservative Party's cuts in corporation tax and supported Labour's anti-austerity proposals under Jeremy Corbyn's leadership. [20] [21] On social inequality, Starmer proposes "national wellbeing indicators" to measure the country's performance on health, inequality, homelessness, and the environment. [24] He has called for an "overhaul" of the UK's Universal Credit scheme. [25] Opposing Scottish independence and a second referendum on the subject, the Labour Party under Starmer's leadership has set up a constitutional convention to address what he describes as a belief among people across the UK that "decisions about me should be taken closer to me". [26] [27] Starmer is against the reunification of Ireland, having stated that he would be "very much on the side of Unionists" if there were to be a border poll. [28]
Starmer strongly favours green policies to tackle climate change and decarbonise the British economy. He has committed to eliminate fossil fuels from the UK electricity grid by 2030, five years earlier than the Conservative government's target. [29] In 2021, Starmer and his Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves pledged that a Labour government would invest an extra £28 billion a year in green industries if elected; in June 2023 this was changed to £28 billion per year by the middle of their first term of government. [30]
Starmer vowed in 2021 and 2022 to strip independent schools of their VAT-exempt charitable status, a move opposed by the Independent Schools Council. [31] [32] [33] During the 2020 Labour leadership election, Starmer pledged to scrap university tuition fees; he dropped this pledge in May 2023, citing a "different financial situation" following Liz Truss' premiership. Starmer instead said that he aimed to reform the tuition fee system, which he said was unfair to both students and universities. [34] He is supportive of faith schools, and said he would not change policy on faith schools. [35] He has ruled out extending free school meals to all primary school pupils in England, [36] instead pledging to extend breakfast clubs including free breakfasts for every primary school in England. [37]
Starmer's position on public ownership over national infrastructure has changed over time. In the 2020 Labour Party leadership election, Starmer ran on a pledge to renationalise rail, mail, water, and energy back into common ownership; he dropped this pledge in July 2022 and said he would take a "pragmatic approach" to public ownership. [38] [39] As of September 2023, he remained committed to renationalising the railways as existing contracts expire, the creation of a publicly owned energy company, and stricter regulation of water companies. [40] [41] [42] [43] Starmer favours partnership between government and business, having said: "A political party without a clear plan for making sure businesses are successful and growing ... which doesn't want them to do well and make a profit ... has no hope of being a successful government." [44]
In the wake of the Murder of Sarah Everard in March 2021, Starmer called for longer sentences for rape and sexual violence. [45] Starmer said he wants crime reduced, maintaining that "too many people do not feel safe in their streets". [46] He has pledged to halve the rates of violence against women and girls, halve the rates of serious violent crime, halve the incidents of knife crime, increase confidence in the criminal justice system, and create a 'Charging Commission' which would be "tasked with coming up with reforms to reverse the decline in the number of offences being solved". [47] He has also committed to placing specialist domestic violence workers in the control rooms of every police force responding to 999 calls to support victims of abuse. [48] Starmer said the New Labour government was right to be "tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime".
In a Sunday Telegraph article he wrote in December 2023, Starmer praised Margaret Thatcher for having "sought to drag Britain out of its stupor", [49] [50] saying Thatcher had "set loose our natural entrepreneurialism" during her time as prime minister, and used Thatcher, as well as Tony Blair and Clement Attlee, as examples of how politicians can effect "meaningful change" by acting "in service of the British people, rather than dictating to them". [51] [52] Starmer defended his remarks on Thatcher by saying: "What I was doing at the weekend in the article I wrote for The Sunday Telegraph was distinguishing between particularly post-war leaders – those leaders, those prime ministers – who had a driving sense of purpose, ambition, a plan to deliver and those that drifted. ... So I was giving Margaret Thatcher as an example of the sort of leader who had that mission and plan. That's obviously different to saying I agree with everything that she did." [53]
Starmer has described the Labour Party as "deeply patriotic" and credits its most successful leaders, Clement Attlee, Harold Wilson, and Tony Blair, for policies "rooted in the everyday concerns of working people". [54] Starmer advocates a government based on "security, prosperity and respect". In a speech on 13 May 2023, Starmer stated that,
Don't mistake me, the very best of progressive politics is found in our determination to push Britain forward. A hunger, an ambition, that we can seize the opportunities of tomorrow and make them work for working people. But this ambition must never become unmoored from working people's need for stability, for order, security. The Conservative Party can no longer claim to be conservative. It conserves nothing we value — not our rivers and seas, not our NHS or BBC, not our families, not our nation. We must understand there are precious things – in our way of life, in our environment, in our communities – that it is our responsibility to protect and preserve and to pass on to future generations. If that sounds conservative, then let me tell you: I don't care.
— Keir Starmer [55]
Following past accusations of antisemitism in the party during Corbyn's leadership, Starmer pledged to end antisemitism in the party during his acceptance speech, saying "Anti-semitism has been a stain on our party. I have seen the grief that it's brought to so many Jewish communities. On behalf of the Labour Party, I am sorry. And I will tear out this poison by its roots and judge success by the return of Jewish members and those who felt that they could no longer support us." [56] [57]
In October 2020, following the release of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC)'s report into antisemitism in the party, Starmer accepted its findings in full and apologised to Jews on behalf of the party. [58] [59] The report said that there was "a culture within the party which, at best, did not do enough to prevent antisemitism and, at worst, could be seen to accept it". [60] The report also found that the party had broken equality laws due to the handling of antisemitism complaints. [60] Starmer added that the findings were "hard to read" and that it had "been a day of shame for the Labour Party". [60] Later that day, Corbyn said that the scale of antisemitism had been overstated for political reasons, and was suspended from the party, he was later expelled from the Labour Party after standing as an independent candidate for Islington North in the 2024 general election. [61]
In February 2023, Starmer's antisemitism reforms resulted in the party no longer being monitored by the EHRC. [62] After having previously resigned from the party in February 2019 citing the handling of antisemitism allegations in the party, former Labour MP Luciana Berger rejoined in February 2023. [60] Berger accepted an apology from Starmer, adding that the party had "turned a significant corner". [60]
Starmer favors Britain's current first-past-the-post voting system and opposes proposals for electoral reform, such as the adoption of proportional representation. [63] [64] He has been criticised for his attitude to the issue of Britain's voting system, including by former Labour shadow chancellor John McDonell, who accused him of acting like a monarch. [65]
After confirming he would not scrap the two-child benefit cap, Starmer was criticised by many within his own party. [66]
In 2005, Starmer stated that "I got made a Queen's Counsel, which is odd since I often used to propose the abolition of the monarchy". [67]
Starmer marched and authored legal opinions against the Iraq War, stating in 2015 that he believed that the war was "not lawful under international law because there was no UN resolution expressly authorising it." [68] [69]
Starmer has advocated an end to "illegal wars" and a review of UK arms exports. [20]
During his leadership campaign, Starmer pledged to create a Prevention of Military Intervention Act, which would only permit lawful military action with the support of the House of Commons. [70] [71]
Starmer called for sanctions against Chinese officials who have been involved in human rights abuses. [72]
Starmer criticised Johnson in 2022 for approving of major UK arms sales to Saudi Arabia used in the Saudi military campaign in Yemen, which intensified the humanitarian crisis in that country. [73] [74]
Starmer supported the unsuccessful Britain Stronger in Europe campaign in the 2016 European Union membership referendum and, as Shadow Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, advocated a second Brexit referendum after the UK withdrawal from the EU. In 2021 he ruled out a return to free movement with the EU or substantial renegotiation of the EU–UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement if Labour won the 2024 general election. [75] In 2023, Starmer wrote in the Daily Express that "Britain's future is outside the EU" and he would not take the UK back into the EU or into the single market, customs union, or return to freedom of movement. [76] [77] However, he has called for much closer economic, diplomatic, and military collaboration between the UK and EU, and would seek to revisit the Brexit deal negotiated and implemented by Boris Johnson. [78] [79]
Starmer condemned the Donald Trump administration's assassination of General Qasem Soleimani; Starmer said the world needed to "engage, not isolate" Iran and called upon "all sides ... to de-escalate tensions and prevent further conflict." [80]
During the U.S.'s transition from the presidency of Donald Trump to that of Joe Biden in January 2021, Starmer said: "I'm anti-Trump but I'm pro-American. And I'm incredibly optimistic about the new relationship we can build with President Biden." He argued that "Britain is at its strongest" when it is "the bridge between the US and the rest of Europe." [27]
Starmer supports maintaining the UK's nuclear arsenal as a nuclear deterrent, and voted for renewal of the Trident programme; he supports the general post-Cold War British policy of a gradual reduction in nuclear stockpiles. [81] [82]
During the prelude to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Starmer met with Secretary General of NATO Jens Stoltenberg and said in an interview with the BBC that Corbyn was "wrong" to be a critic of NATO and that the Labour Party's commitment to NATO was "unshakeable"; he added that "stand united in the UK ... Whatever challenges we have with the government, when it comes to Russian aggression we stand together." [81]
Starmer called for "widespread and hard-hitting" economic sanctions against Russia. [83] He also criticised the Stop the War Coalition in an op-ed for The Guardian , writing that the group's members were "not benign voices for peace" but rather "[a]t best they are naive, at worst they actively give succour to authoritarian leaders" such as Russian President Vladimir Putin "who directly threaten democracies." [84]
In February 2023 he met Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy, and pledged support for Ukraine during the Russian invasion of the country; Starmer stated that if he became prime minister, there would be no change in Britain's position on the war in Ukraine. [85] [86] He also called for Russian leaders, including Putin, to be tried at The Hague for crimes against humanity. [87] [88] Starmer supported the International Criminal Court's issuance of an arrest warrant for Putin, after he was indicted in the ICC. [89]
In 2021, Starmer said that Israel "must respect international law" and called on the Israeli government to work with Palestinian leaders to de-escalate the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. [90] Starmer opposes Israeli settlements, proposals for Israeli annexation of the West Bank, and "the eviction of Palestinians" in the Israeli-occupied territories; he also opposes the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. [91] [92] Starmer also has expressed support for the creation of an "inverse OPEC" to promote renewable energy. [93] He has rejected the contention that Israel is an apartheid state. [94] During a June 2023 meeting with Palestinian Mission to the United Kingdom head Husam Zomlot, Starmer recommitted the Labour Party to the recognition of a Palestinian state if it wins the 2024 general election. [95] In January 2024, Starmer said that a future Labour government would recognize a State of Palestine as part of a multi-national peace process, rather than extending recognition immediately or unilaterally; this confirmed a recommendations from the party's policy forum in October 2023. [96]
After the 7 October attacks which began the Israel–Hamas war, Starmer expressed support for Israel, condemned Hamas terrorism, and said, "This action by Hamas does nothing for Palestinians. And Israel must always have the right to defend her people." [97] [98] In an interview with LBC on 11 October 2023, Starmer was asked whether it would be appropriate for Israel to totally cut off power and water supplies to the Gaza Strip, with Starmer replying that "I think that Israel does have that right" and that "obviously everything should be done within international law". [99] [100] On 20 October, Starmer said that he only meant that Israel had the right to defend itself. [100] [101] Starmer had said that a ceasefire would only benefit Hamas for future attacks, instead calling for a humanitarian pause to allow aid to reach Gaza. [102] In December 2023, Starmer followed Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in changing his stance by calling for a "sustainable ceasefire" in relation to Gaza, which also came after the Foreign Secretary David Cameron's same change in position. Starmer stated his support for a "two-stage" "two-state solution". [103] [104] [105] On 18 February 2024, Starmer called for a "ceasefire that lasts" and said it must "happen now", having previously refused to call for a ceasefire. [106] [107] [108]
Steven William Maclean Bell is an English political cartoonist, whose work has appeared in a number of publications, notably The Guardian from 1981 to 2023. He is known for his left-wing views.
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.
Sir Lindsay Harvey Hoyle is a British politician who has served as Speaker of the House of Commons since 2019 and as Member of Parliament (MP) for Chorley since 1997. Before his election as speaker, he was a member of the Labour Party.
Sir Keir Rodney Starmer is a British politician and barrister who has served as the Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party since 2020. Previously the Director of Public Prosecutions for England and Wales from 2008 to 2013, he was Member of Parliament (MP) for Holborn and St Pancras from 2015 to 2024. He ideologically identifies as progressive and as a centrist.
Rachel Jane Reeves is a British politician who has been Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer since 2021, and was Member of Parliament (MP) for Leeds West from 2010 to 2024.
Angela Rayner is a British politician who has been the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party since 2020, and Shadow Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Shadow Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities since 2023. She served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Ashton-under-Lyne from 2015 to 2024. Ideologically she identifies as a socialist and as being part of Labour's soft left.
Peter Kyle is a British Labour politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Hove since 2015. He has served as Shadow Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology since 2023. He has previously served as Shadow Minister for Victims and Youth Justice, Shadow Minister for Schools, and Shadow Northern Ireland Secretary.
Rebecca Roseanne Long-Bailey is a British Labour politician and a solicitor who has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Salford and Eccles since 2015. She served in the Shadow Cabinet as Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury from 2016 to 2017, Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy from 2017 to 2020 and Shadow Secretary of State for Education in 2020.
Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) is a British non-governmental organisation established in August 2014 by members of the Anglo-Jewish community. It conducts litigation, runs awareness-raising campaigns, organises rallies and petitions, and provides education on antisemitism and publishes research.
Rosena Chantelle Allin-Khan is a British politician and medical doctor serving as Member of Parliament (MP) for Tooting since 2016. A member of the Labour Party, she attended shadow cabinet as Shadow Minister for Mental Health from 2020 to 2023.
There have been instances of antisemitism within the Labour Party of the United Kingdom (UK) since its establishment. One such example is canards about "Jewish finance" during the Boer War. In the 2000s, controversies arose over comments made by Labour politicians regarding an alleged "Jewish lobby", a comparison by London Labour politician Ken Livingstone of a Jewish journalist to a concentration camp guard, and a 2005 Labour attack on Jewish Conservative Party politician Michael Howard.
The 2020 Labour Party leadership election was triggered after Jeremy Corbyn announced his intention to resign as the leader of the Labour Party following the party's defeat at the 2019 general election. It was won by Keir Starmer, who received 56.2 per cent of the vote on the first round. It was held alongside the 2020 Labour Party deputy leadership election, in which Angela Rayner was elected to succeed Tom Watson as deputy leader after Watson retired from Parliament in November 2019, in advance of the election.
Samuel Peter Tarry is a British politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ilford South from 2019 until 2024. He was a member of the Socialist Campaign Group parliamentary caucus. On 10 October 2022 he was deselected by the Ilford South Constituency Labour Party as its candidate for the 2024 election.
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 Workers Party of Britain (WPB), also called the Workers Party of Great Britain (WPGB) or Workers Party GB, is a socialist and socially conservative political party in the United Kingdom, led by and identified with politician George Galloway. The party, founded in 2019, secured a parliamentary seat when Galloway won the February 2024 Rochdale by-election.
The Labour Party leadership of Keir Starmer began when Keir Starmer was elected as Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition in April 2020, following the resignation of Jeremy Corbyn after Labour's defeat at the 2019 general election. Starmer has repositioned the party away from the left and toward the political centre. He has emphasised the importance of eliminating antisemitism within the party, which had been a controversial issue during Corbyn's leadership. In 2023, Starmer set out five missions for a Labour government, targeting issues such as economic growth, health, clean energy, crime, and education.
A by-election took place on 29 February 2024 in the UK Parliament constituency of Rochdale following the death of Labour MP Sir Tony Lloyd. The winner was George Galloway of the Workers Party of Britain who received 40% of the vote and overturned a 9,668 vote Labour majority at the 2019 general election. The turnout was 39.7%, compared to a 60.1% turnout in the constituency at the last general election.
Luke Akehurst is a British Labour party official and former councillor. Since 2022, he has been a member of the National Executive Committee of the Labour Party, having also previously been on the NEC from 2010 until 2012. He is the Labour Party candidate for North Durham in the 2024 United Kingdom general election.
Following the 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel and outbreak of the Israel–Hamas war, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak pledged the UK's support for Israel and declared that Israel "has an absolute right to defend itself", but later condemned the high number of civilian casualties during the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip and called for a "sustainable ceasefire".
It is hard to define what Sir Keir stands for politically
Away from Brexit, his politics are less clear.
This makes it hard to define what Sir Keir stands for politically. But it is clear what he is not: a populist.
Union leaders have told Keir Starmer his position on Gaza risks alienating millions of Britons, telling the Labour leader their members are increasingly angry about his refusal to call for an immediate ceasefire in the Middle East.