Keir Starmer starts 2025 with his back against the wall but is pledging to “fight for change” in the year ahead.
As the new year begins, the British prime minister, who was elected in a landslide victory in the summer but is now slumping in the opinion polls, spoke of progress on wages, deportations and improving the country’s ailing health service. Project confidence.
But Starmer’s job is a tricky one. In Britain, the centre-left Labor government got off to a sluggish start for the first time in more than a decade, leading to a sharp decline in the prime minister’s public popularity.
“We know there is still much more work to be done,” Starmer said. “And many people find it difficult to think about the future when they spend all their time fighting to get through the week.
“So I want to be clear. “This Government will fight for you until you can again look forward and believe in the promise and prosperity of Britain,” he added.
“This is the fight for change that will define this year, next year and, indeed, every waking hour of this government,” Starmer said.
The promise comes as Britons hope to maintain confidence in his new Labor government, which was elected after promising to reset Britain’s fortunes after 14 years of increasingly unpopular Conservative governments.
Despite a landslide victory last July, the party lost support amid a series of scandals and criticism that it failed to offer a compelling vision for Britain’s future. Despite multiple attempts to reset the narrative.
Labour’s landslide victory is already on the verge of evaporating, and if an election were held today the party would lose almost 200 of the seats it won in July, according to a recent large-scale opinion poll conducted by the More in Common think tank.
Nigel Farage’s right-wing populist British reform group will make serious inroads into parliament, the same poll suggested.
Meanwhile, Farage has set his sights firmly on what he calls a “unitary party” of Labor and the Conservatives, sharing a message from his birthplace from the British reform leader, who has been counting on support from Donald Trump ally Elon Musk in his New Year speech. These are the words of wartime British leader Winston Churchill.
Farage said he would “campaign for proper border controls”, push for measures on the cost of living and channel the “energy” of a rebel right-wing party. Don’t just sit there and nod your head. Do something about it.”
New Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch’s New Year’s message has decided to focus inward. She is trying to rebuild the party and capitalize on Labour’s struggles after July’s election.
In a short message, Badenoch said her party was going through a “period of change” and promised to “do things differently.” The Conservatives also face a fierce challenge from Farage’s right.
“This renewal process will be a long-term project,” Badenoch said. “Things may not be smooth going forward, but the party I lead now will do things differently.”
“Watch this space.” she added.
