Sir Keir Starmer's final week as prime minister offered glimpses of his strengths, including steadfast support for Ukraine and a role in the Hillsborough law, but his premiership will be remembered for its rapid decline and failure to provide coherent leadership, according to a Guardian editorial.
Dignified Farewell Amidst Swift Defenestration
After Labour's catastrophic local election results in May, Starmer's departure was swift and brutal. However, his valedictory week provided opportunities to highlight his achievements. At a Paris meeting on Monday, leaders of the 'coalition of the willing' gave him a minute's applause for his role in rallying international support for Ukraine and ensuring Britain avoided Donald Trump's illegal war on Iran.
On Tuesday, Andy Burnham paid tribute to Starmer for drafting the bill that became the Hillsborough law this week. On Wednesday, the England team's World Cup exploits allowed Starmer to indulge his football passion during his final Prime Minister's Questions (PMQs). Freed from the usual gladiatorial atmosphere, he delivered self-deprecatory anecdotes and jokes, earning praise from both Opposition and Labour backbenchers for his dedication to public service.
A Premiership Defined by Rapid Decline
Despite the dignified farewell, Starmer's premiership will be remembered for how quickly Labour backbenchers became a 'coalition of the unwilling.' As a passive, remote prime minister, he presided over an administration that failed to find and communicate a coherent sense of direction to the country.
Two years ago, voters delivered Labour a landslide, expecting Labour-style solutions to the country's problems. Instead, the government boxed itself in with tax pledges and rigid fiscal rules, creating dilemmas resolved by targeting the very people it should have protected. The winter fuel allowance debacle became emblematic of a U-turning government confused about its purpose.
Child Poverty and Internal Rebellion
In recent weeks, Starmer cited alleviating child poverty as one of his government's proudest achievements. But he could only do so because mutinous Labour MPs forced his administration to rethink and finally lift a child benefit cap. This internal rebellion highlighted the lack of vision and ambition that defined his tenure.
Part of the problem was Starmer's unpolitical nature. His debilitating, technocratic caution alienated a public exasperated by declining living standards. On issues ranging from his wrongheaded response to the genocidal destruction in Gaza to the backlash against proposals to cut personal independence payments, Starmer gave the impression of being surprised by crises a Labour leader should never have faced. MPs feared these cumulative failings would eventually hand No 10 to Nigel Farage.
From Promising Start to Disappointing End
The mood was different six years ago when Starmer delivered a bravura performance in his first PMQs against Boris Johnson. With lawyerly skill in a socially distanced Commons, he calmly dismantled Johnson's Covid record. But in the summer of 2024, a divided, angry country needed more than prosecutorial skills; it required a leader with vision and ambition for a transformative social democratic approach. Starmer, sadly, never came close to offering that.
