Sir Keir Starmer is marking his first 100 days in office. When his press spokesperson was asked ahead of the big day if the prime minister thought it had been a successful start, he simply said: “It’s up to the public to decide that.”
The verdict is in, and it isn’t good: Sir Keir’s approval poll ratings last week fell to -33 - a drop of 44 points since his post-election high, while one poll put Labour just one point ahead of the Tories.
A poll out this weekend by YouGov finds nearly half of those who voted Labour in the last general election feel let down so far, while six in 10 disapprove of the government’s record so far, against one in six who approve of the Starmer government.
Sir Keir will no doubt say it’s not about the first 100 days, it’s about the “next decade of national renewal”. And perhaps he has a point. How can you foretell the fortunes of a political leader from 100 days?
The great late Alistair Cooke in one of his Letter from America dispatches said making a big deal out of the first 100 days was a “foolish custom”.
It does feel like Labour are playing the long game with short-term pain, for long-term gain so they probably accept that this first 100 days was going to be rough. However, you’d think they’d try to balance things out, spread the pain around, because the winter fuel payment issue will be a stick used to beat Labour with at the next election.
Yeah that’s my interpretation of it too, they had quite a bit of political capital stored up after the election win, and they’re spending it on making unpopular choices now, presumably with the intent that by the next election the painful bit will be over and we’ll be seeing improvements across the board that they can then campaign on.
I think maybe this also feels weird to a lot of people because they’re actually doing stuff and not just using the post-win honeymoon period to fuck about like the Tories usually do.