Britain | One year of Labour

Starmer’s wasted first year

By its own yardstick the government has squandered its first year in office

An illustration of a pile of mostly deflated red balloons with the Labour party logo on them.
Illustration: Carl Godfrey
|6 min read

When Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour Party was in opposition, policy-watchers hunted for a glimmer of ideology. They saw little of the intellectual ferment behind Sir Tony Blair’s “third way”. Sir Keir’s diagnosis of Britain’s problems was unflashy: under the Tories, he said in 2023, there was a “sense that nothing works, that we’re going backwards, a country in decline”. Under Labour, an orderly government would restore Britons’ faith in the system. He articulated a set of “foundations” and “missions”, which included promises both vague and precise.

Explore more

This article appeared in the Britain section of the print edition under the headline “Starmer’s wasted first year”

From the July 5th 2025 edition

Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents

Explore the edition
An illustration of Ed Miliband clutching a briefcase with his tie flying crookedly over his shoulder.

Where are all the briefcase wankers?

The nerd:jock ratio in government is askew

 A general view over Court One as Karen Khachanov serves against Taylor Fritz of United States

The court that could thwart Wimbledon’s ambitions to grow

What hope for the rest of Britain?



Macron beats Trump to London

A royal welcome for a republican president

Britain is already a hot country. It should act like it

A land of long holidays, cool homes and tree-lined streets awaits