Starmer needs to tell a better story about Labour

In his Christmas message to the nation, Sir Keir Starmer asks people to “get back in touch with those who might find the time of year difficult. Check in on a friend or a relative who you haven't heard from for a while. Reach out. It can make a huge difference.”

- 

Admirable sentiments. However, it seems that many of those who voted to put him in power at the last general election might quite like the prime minister to also get back in touch with them, as they are finding life under a Labour government more difficult than they hoped, as indeed is Sir Keir himself.

The results of the latest polling by The Independent into the standing of the prime minister and his government make for grim reading. He knows he is unpopular, but perhaps not quite how badly disillusioned those who placed their faith in him a year and a half ago now feel. About four in 10 of those who voted Labour in July 2024 say the party would do better at the ballot box with a new leader, with not much more than one in 10 keeping faith with Sir Keir.

The implications of such data are disturbing for the prime minister, because it suggests that if he does survive as leader until 2027, with an election nearing, he and his party will become even more disliked, and a truly apocalyptic scenario begins to crystallise. At that point, the party might well panic or be frozen in a state of stasis at the dire situation. Either case might push their support even lower. Sir Keir’s personal ratings were never that stellar, even in opposition, while his Commons landslide greatly flattered the 34 per cent of the vote he received.