Starmer Faces Down a Revolt Over Welfare Reform After a Troubled First Year in Office

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer marks a year in office this week, fighting a rebellion from his own party in a vote Tuesday on welfare reform and reckoning with a sluggish economy and rock-bottom approval ratings.

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It's a long way from the landslide election victory he won on 4 July, 2024, when Starmer's centre-left Labour Party took 412 of the 650 seats in the House of Commons to end 14 years of Conservative government.

In the past 12 months, Starmer has navigated the rapids of a turbulent world, winning praise for rallying international support for Ukraine and persuading American President Donald Trump to sign a trade deal easing tariffs on U.K. goods.

But at home his agenda has run onto the rocks as he struggles to convince British voters—and his own party—that his government is delivering the change that it promised. Inflation remains stubbornly high and economic growth low, frustrating efforts to ease the cost of living.

Starmer's personal approval ratings are approaching those of Conservative Prime Minister Liz Truss, who lasted just 49 days in office in 2022 after her tax-cutting budget roiled the economy.

John Curtice, a political scientist at the University of Strathclyde, said Starmer has had "the worst start for any newly elected prime minister."