Outgoing Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer will leave office with his flagship 'mission boards' being quietly abandoned in the final weeks of his premiership. The Daily Express has learned that all five boards have either been abolished or have not met since November 2025.
Mission boards stripped of power
Sir Keir swept into power in 2024 promising a "mission driven government" built around five Mission Boards he personally vowed to chair. However, the much-trumpeted project has been dismantled piece by piece. First, he dropped his promise to chair the boards, palming them off to individual Cabinet ministers. Then, in November 2025, they were quietly stripped of their status as Cabinet Committees, which Westminster sources say was the very power that had let them make binding decisions.
Boards cease to meet
Parliamentary questions revealed that the 'Safer Streets Mission Board' has not met since last November. The Clean Energy Superboard has also failed to convene. The economic growth board was replaced by a separate committee, while ministers gave vague answers on the future of the NHS and Opportunity boards.
Political reactions
Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Alex Burghart said Sir Keir had "promised change and stability, but his premiership has been defined by scandal and failure". He added: "His much-vaunted 'missions' were never more than a slogan. The very structures created to deliver them have now been quietly abandoned, weeks before this failing Government reaches its end." Burghart said only the Conservatives, "under new leadership", had "a plan to restore common sense governance, rebuild public confidence and get Britain working again".
Government response
A Government spokesman insisted the missions remained a priority. They said: "We remain committed to delivering on the big issues facing the British people, from the economy and the cost of living, to safer streets and NHS waiting lists." The spokesman added that Mission Boards "continue to be a forum that the relevant Secretaries of State across government can utilise".
