The Labour Party is Back in Business – How Did Keir Starmer Do It?
As the Labour Party begins the journey towards an election campaign with ‘5 Missions for a Better Britain’, Audley looks at the actions Sir Keir Starmer is taking to turn the party around.
These are the 5 key elements of Starmer’s mission for a Better Labour…
Last month Labour set out its ‘5 Missions’ – reforming the police and justice system, securing the highest sustained growth in the G7, and more – which will “form the backbone of Labour’s election manifesto.” As the party maintains a strong lead over PM Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives, many are openly discussing the possibility that former Director of Public Prosecutions Sir Keir Starmer could lead Labour to victory in the next general election. When Labour MP Ashely Dalton told the Conservatives to “get out of the way” after her by-election victory in West Lancashire, maybe there was more to it than bravado.
To see how the leader turned things around from the party’s defeat in Britain’s last general election, Audley takes a look at 5 key elements of Keir Starmer’s leadership strategy and how it is helping transform the party into a “competent, credible opposition” that could win the next election…
1. DAMAGE CONTROL
Inheriting a party with deep divisions, accused of allowing antisemitism to run rife within its ranks, and fresh from losing 59 seats, Starmer had to take radical action from day one if he was to salvage Labour from its defeat and assure voters that under his leadership, this party would change.
In his first conference speech as Labour leader, he acknowledged his party’s defeat and made clear that Labour were going to look hard at what happened and reevaluate: “You don’t look at the electorate and ask them: ‘What were you thinking?’ You look at yourself and ask: ‘What were we doing?’” Starmer made clear that he would take responsibility for his party and work to prove themselves to the electorate it had alienated.
This involved action to repair relationships with a part of the electorate whose trust it was especially important Labour regained: the Jewish community. Shortly after becoming leader Starmer met with Jewish leaders to apologise for the ways Labour had failed the Jewish community and promise swift action on antisemitism. He welcomed the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s (EHRC) investigation into antisemitism within the party, accepted its findings when it served the party with an unlawful act notice for harassment and discrimination, and Labour took action from there to prevent this from ever occurring again.
Responding to the news earlier this year that the EHRC would cease monitoring Labour, Starmer did not take a victory lap. Rather, he apologised again, reaffirming his “zero tolerance” attitude towards “antisemitism, …racism, [and] discrimination of any kind.” He argued that this was not a sign of a battle won, but that Labour would continue working to stay on the right track.
2. BACK TO BUSINESS
Another strategic pillar that has guided Starmer from day one is showing that Labour is "proudly pro-business."
One way they did this was through an incredible run of roundtables and meetings with CEOs and business leaders, racking up 387 meetings in 18 months: a ‘Prawn Cocktail Offensive’ for the 21st century. Although, Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves prefers to call it a “smoked salmon and scrambled egg offensive,” breakfast being her preferred meal of the day.
Labour were overwhelmed by firms wanting to get in touch after the disaster of former Prime Minister Liz Truss’ mini-budget, and the interest the party has generated through its campaign of meetings, as well as business events, led to a sold-out party conference in 2022, to which Labour responded with a business-centric conference later in the year which was also booked up months in advance. Attendees of this second conference included the likes of Tesco Chairman John Allan, Aviva Chief Executive Amanda Blanc, and Chief Executive of Microsoft UK Clare Barclay, while HSBC and energy company SSE were amongst the sponsors.
Starmer and Reeves have even taken Labour’s pro-business message international, as both attended this year’s World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos. Where Starmer’s predecessor Jeremy Corbyn described the meeting as a "billionaires' jamboree," Starmer took the opportunity to advertise Labour’s plans to revitalize foreign investment in Britain, in order to increase growth and productivity.
While the pro-business campaign has proven effective for Labour, we can’t attribute the success here entirely to Keir Starmer, because there’s another person who’s been instrumental in getting the party where they are today…
3. 'SECRET WEAPON’ RACHEL REEVES
Described as Labour’s ‘Secret Weapon’ by The Times, we would be remiss not to mention the Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves, who is one of the most important guiding forces in Starmer’s efforts to revitalise the Labour Party.
Appointed in May 2021, Reeves replaced Anneliese Dodds in an effort to bring some change to the party’s strategy. The former Bank of England economist is now spearheading Labour’s pro-business makeover with the aforementioned 387 meetings with business leaders in 18 months. This is to achieve her mandate to drive growth in Britain and thereby enable investment in public services and improve living standards without needing to raise taxes. Her vision is a testament to her belief in British business to “create…prosperity,” which has drawn business leaders to her.
In addition to her campaign to connect with businesses, Reeves has spoken of Labour’s post-Corbyn efforts to “rebuild people’s trust” and work with voters who turned on Labour in 2019 because securing their vote and winning is, in her view, “the only way you can make change.”
In her words: “I want to be remembered as somebody who actually makes a difference, not going on rallies and picket lines.”
4. MY WAY OR THE HIGHWAY
As we’ve suggested, internal change has been as important to Starmer’s mission to reshape Labour as external messaging.
Starmer has laid down the law when it comes to keeping his party on-message, on-target, and capable of presenting itself as a “competent, credible opposition.” He has not shied away from keeping Corbyn-affiliated party members in line. In February 2022, after 11 left-wing Labour MPs and Jeremy Corbyn himself signed a Stop the War letter criticising NATO, he warned that “[t]here will be no place in this party for false equivalence between the actions of Russia” and the organisation.
This resolve to keep the left wing of the party in check also drove Labour’s selection of parliamentary candidates, which was tightly controlled by party HQ in a process devised by Campaign Director Morgan McSweeney. He is credited as being the architect of Starmer’s three-year plan for winning power and “the most powerful backroom operator in Starmer’s team.”
One recent appointment is also a clear indication that Labour is remodelling itself to be fighting-fit for government, and that’s bringing on renowned Civil Servant Sue Gray as Keir Starmer’s Chief of Staff. Her appointment has proven controversial, given her leadership of the investigation into former PM Boris Johnson’s government and its behaviour during lockdown. However, a former colleague has noted that Gray has “been at the heart of government for so long,” making her an invaluable asset to a Labour government.
5. EVOLVING PROMISES
To return finally to Labour’s ‘5 Missions’: while Starmer says they will “drive forward a Labour government[,]” left-wing campaign group Momentum have criticised the party leader for abandoning policies that secured him the leadership. On the other side of the political spectrum, Conservative Party Chair Greg Hands has accused Starmer of "say[ing] anything if the politics of that moment suit him.”
Starmer has defended himself by putting the missions in the context of the last three years; with Covid-19, the Ukraine-Russia war, and the disastrous mini-budget that ended Liz Truss’ short tenure as PM, who could be expected not to shift their priorities?
With 18 months before we can expect Britain to kick into ‘election mode’, it would be dangerous for Labour to give away too much about its plans now. At the same time, Starmer’s readiness to evolve his messaging can be seen as a boon in his strategy. While some may choose to criticise the ways that his attitudes and messages in public have shifted in three years, it is clear that each of these shifts has been in pursuit of re-establishing that connection with the British people, to show them that Labour is a “different to the party that Britain rejected in 2019” in his words.
While Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour could be called a “party of protest,” as Starmer himself has done, his party is focused instead on “public service”: answering the needs of the British public after three tumultuous years and showing that Labour is a party that will listen to and serve them.
WHAT’S NEXT?
There is no doubt that these efforts to repair Labour’s image in Britain have gone some way to giving them their position in the polls well ahead of the Conservatives. However, with an election not due until January 2025, there is still a long road ahead, and we will have to see whether Starmer’s efforts pay off once the Conservatives kick their election campaign into gear.
While Starmer can afford to keep his cards close to his chest now regarding the details of Labour’s ‘5 Missions’, as has been observed, he can only afford to for so long. As the fight really begins, Labour will have to show voters clearly what it offers them – what it will do to drag Britain out of the mire of inflation stagnation where it is currently stuck – if it wants to stand a chance. It will, as Keir Starmer has said, benefit from drawing on expertise and partnerships with “business, unions, communities and civil society” in order to deliver his “mission-driven government.”
For now, the party will have to continue treading the tightest line possible with regards to Brexit, critiquing where it does not work (for example, mutual recognition of services) while avoiding being dragged into any debates that could undo their work to get where they are today.
Despite what headlines suggest, it is too early to call a victory for either our governing party or its opposition. However, whatever comes in the next 12 months and beyond – and especially after these last three years – it’s nice to entertain the idea that ‘Things Can Only Get Better’.
By Harri Adams, Junior Associate at Audley
Image credit/World Economic Forum