Keir Starmer's tenure as Leader of the Opposition

Keir Starmer was selected in December 2014 to be the Labour parliamentary candidate for the Labour UK constituency of Holborn and St Pancras, a safe seat, following the decision of the sitting MP Frank Dobson to retire.^[5] Starmer was elected at the 2015 general election with a majority of 17,048.^[6] Following Corbyn's win in the 2016 Labour Party leadership election in September, Starmer accepted a new post under Corbyn as Shadow Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union.^[7]

In the 2019 general election, Labour suffered its worst election defeat since 1935, with the Conservative Party earning an 80-seat majority.^[8][9] Labour won 203 seats, gaining 32.2% of the vote.^[9] This was the Labour Party's fourth consecutive general election defeat.^[10] Following Labour's defeat, Corbyn announced that he would stand down as Leader of the Labour Party.^[11] Starmer began to distance himself from Corbyn's leadership and many of the policies he put forward at the election, revealing in 2024 that he was "certain that we would lose the 2019 election".^[12] Following the party's defeat at the 2019 election, Corbyn announced that he would stand down as Leader of the Labour Party following a "process of reflection".^[13]

On 4 January 2020, Starmer announced his candidacy for the 2020 Labour Party leadership election, following the resignation of Jeremy Corbyn after Labour's defeat at the 2019 general election.^[14] By 8 January, it was reported that Starmer had gained enough nominations from Labour MPs and MEPs to get onto the ballot paper, and that the trade union Unison was backing him. Unison, with 1.3 million members, said Starmer was the best placed candidate to unite the party and regain public trust.^[15] He also gained support from former Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Mayor of London Sadiq Khan.^[16]

During the leadership election, Starmer ran a left-wing platform. He positioned himself in opposition to austerity, stating that Corbyn was "right" to position Labour as the "party of anti-austerity".^[17][18] He indicated he will continue with the Labour policy of scrapping tuition fees as well as pledging "common ownership" of rail, mail, energy and water companies and called for ending outsourcing in the NHS, local governments and the justice system.^[19] Supporters of Rebecca Long-Bailey criticised Starmer for releasing details of his campaign donations on the register of members' interests rather than independently, as Long-Bailey and Lisa Nandy had done, which meant that some details of his donors were not published until after the election had ended.^[20][21] Starmer went on to win the leadership contest on 4 April 2020, defeating Long-Bailey and Nandy, with 56.2% of the vote in the first round,^[22] and subsequently became Leader of the Opposition.^[23][24]

It is the honour and the privilege of my life to be elected as leader of the Labour Party. It comes at a moment like none other in our lifetime. Under my leadership we will engage constructively with the Government, not opposition for opposition's sake. Not scoring party political points or making impossible demands. But with the courage to support where that's the right thing to do. I want to thank Rebecca and Lisa for running such passionate and powerful campaigns and for their friendship and support along the way. I want to thank our Labour Party staff who worked really hard and my own amazing campaign team, full of positivity, with that unifying spirit. I want to pay tribute to Jeremy Corbyn, who led our party through some really difficult times, who energised our movement and who's a friend as well as a colleague. And to all of our members, supporters and affiliates I say this: whether you voted for me or not I will represent you, I will listen to you and I will bring our party together.

— Keir Starmer's acceptance speech, April 2020

Having become the Leader of the Opposition amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Starmer said he would refrain from "scoring party political points" and would work with Boris Johnson's government "in the national interest". He later became more critical of the government's response to the pandemic following the Partygate scandal.^[25] Starmer also criticised Johnson's government, as well as the governments of his successors Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak, for issues such as the Chris Pincher scandal and subsequent government crisis, the economic crisis resulting from the 2022 mini-budget and subsequent government crisis, the cost of living crisis and the National Health Service strikes and other industrial disputes and strikes. Amid the historic number of ministers resigning from Johnson's government in July 2022, Starmer proposed a vote of no confidence in Johnson's government, stating that Johnson could not be allowed to remain in office given the large-scale revolt by his own ministers.^[26][27] Starmer's questioning strategy against Johnson, Truss and Sunak was similar to that of a prosecutor.^[28][29]

Starmer's tenure saw the party move closer towards the political centre.^[30][31][32] Speaking at the party's annual conference in 2021, the first time Starmer addressed the annual conference in person since becoming the leader, he presented his focus on stronger economy and tougher stances on crime, repositioning the party away from the previous leadership.^[33] By 2022, Starmer had dropped most of the socialist policies he advocated during his leadership run, including pledges made to nationalise water and energy, scrap tuition fees, and defend free movement within the EU.^[34][35] Starmer responded to criticism in 2023 by stating that they remained "important statements of value and principle", but cited the COVID-19 pandemic, the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the economic crisis resulting from the 2022 mini-budget as having meant that these pledges have had to be adapted.^[36]

Under Starmer's tenure, the party still supports the renationalisation of Britain's railways,^[37] and has pledged to create a publicly owned energy company, Great British Energy, to "compete with private industry and promote clean energy", differentiated from full nationalisation of the energy industry as previously pledged.^[38][39] In February 2023, Starmer set out five "national missions" as the basis for Labour's manifesto for the 2024 general election:^[40] achieving the highest sustained growth in the G7 by the end of his first term,^[41] establishing the UK as a "clean energy superpower" with zero-carbon electricity by 2030; enacting health and care reform, improving the justice system, and dismantling the barriers to opportunity" with education and childcare reforms.^[41] Upon becoming Labour leader, he tasked Brown with recommending British constitutional reforms.^[42] The report was published in 2022 and was endorsed and promoted by Starmer, and recommended the abolition of the House of Lords, extending greater powers to local councils and mayors, and deeper devolution to the countries of the United Kingdom.^[43] In November 2022, Starmer said that he would strip politicians of the power to appoint people to the House of Lords in the first term of a Labour government,^[44] adding that the public's trust in the political system had been undermined by successive Conservative leaders granting peerages to "lackeys and donors".^[45] Labour's 2024 election manifesto Change, however, did not recommend abolition to the House of Lords, instead committing only to removal of the remaining hereditary peers from the chamber, setting a mandatory retirement age of 80, and beginning a consultation on replacing the Lords with a "more representative" body.^[46]

Following the 2022 clashes between Hindus & Muslims at Leicester, Starmer attempted to mend ties with the 1.8 million strong Indian Hindu diaspora of Britain, which had historically voted for Labour in significant numbers (due to the legacy of Clement Atlee, who had passed the legislation ending British rule over India) over the Conservative Party (due to Winston Churchill's racist views towards Hindus), but was strained due to various actions of Jeremy Corbyn, most notably condemning the revocation of Jammu & Kashmir's special status by the Indian government. On 2023, Starmer participated in Diwali celebrations at the Neasden BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir.^[47] Starmer has also taken steps to distance the party from its historical support of Sikh separatism. In May 2023, the Labour Party launched an internal investigation against it's councilor Parbinder Kaur after she praised Babbar Khalsa on social media.^[48] Another Labour MP with pro-Khalistani stance, Preet Kaur Gill was also sacked from her position in the Shadow Cabinet.

Following past accusations of antisemitism in the party during Corbyn's tenure, Starmer pledged to end antisemitism in the party during his acceptance speech, saying "Anti-semitism has been a stain on our party. I have seen the grief that it's brought to so many Jewish communities. On behalf of the Labour Party, I am sorry. And I will tear out this poison by its roots and judge success by the return of Jewish members and those who felt that they could no longer support us."^[49][50]

In April 2020, an internal party report on antisemitism (The Work of the Labour Party’s Governance and Legal Unit in Relation to Anti-semitism, 2014–2019) was leaked.^[51][52] It was made during the end of Corbyn's leadership, intended for submission to the EHRC, and dated March 2020.^[53] It detailed that there was a tangible issue with antisemitism in the party, but factional hostility to Corbyn hampered efforts to tackle it.^[54] In January 2023, it was reported that the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) were not going to take action against the Corbyn-supporting authors of the report, which leaked with unredacted confidential information, and that the Labour Party would pursue a civil case against them.^[55][56][57] This internal report led to the Forde Report.^[58][57]

In October 2020, following the release of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC)'s report into antisemitism in the party, Starmer accepted its findings in full and apologised to Jews on behalf of the party.^[59][60] The report said that there was "a culture within the party which, at best, did not do enough to prevent antisemitism and, at worst, could be seen to accept it".^[61] The report also found that the party had broken equality laws due to the handling of antisemitism complaints.^[61] Starmer added that the findings were "hard to read" and that it had "been a day of shame for the Labour Party".^[61]

Later that day, Corbyn stated that "the scale of the problem was also dramatically overstated for political reasons".^[62] He was later suspended over his response to the report.^[62] Some on the left of the party called for Corbyn's suspension to be lifted.^[63] On 14 November 2022, it was reported that the leadership of the Labour Party would not restore the whip to Corbyn, preventing him from standing for election on behalf of the Labour Party.^[64] This led to speculation Corbyn could stand for election as the Mayor of London or in his current parliamentary constituency as an independent candidate, in opposition to Labour.^[65][66] In March 2023, Labour's National Executive Committee (NEC) voted 22 to 12 on a motion from Starmer to prevent the Labour Party from endorsing Corbyn as a candidate for the party at the next general election.^[67][68]

On 17 July 2022, the Forde Report was published, having been commissioned by Starmer at the beginning of his leadership.^[69][70] It described how groups within Labour had sought to hinder Corbyn while leader of the Labour Party and said that during his leadership it broke into factions which supported or opposed him, though this factionalism had decreased since Starmer took leadership.^[69][71] The report said that groups within the party who were in support and opposition to Corbyn both sought to use allegations of antisemitism in the party during his leadership to further their political interests.^[70][72] The report detailed bullying, racism, and sexism within the party.^[73][74]

The report also said many of those within the party from whom it gathered evidence were concerned the party operated a "hierarchy of racism or of discrimination", with more resources being allocated to investigate claims of antisemitism, amid their surge and political importance, compared to other forms of discrimination.^[73][75][76] Starmer was criticised for his lack of response to the report and the problems within the party that it highlighted, in particular anti-black racism.^[77][78]

In February 2023, Starmer's antisemitism reforms resulted in the party no longer being monitored by the EHRC.^[79] After having previously resigned from the party in February 2019 citing the handling of antisemitism allegations in the party, former Labour MP Luciana Berger rejoined in February 2023.^[61] Berger accepted an apology from Starmer, adding that the party had "turned a significant corner".^[61]

His Shadow Cabinet appointments included MPs associated with the various wings of the party. Angela Rayner was appointed deputy labour leader and shadow deputy prime minister, while Rachel Reeves and Yvette Cooper were appointed as shadow chancellor and shadow home secretary, respectively. Miliband was appointed shadow energy and climate secretary. Other notable appointments included David Lammy as shadow foreign secretary and Wes Streeting as shadow health secretary. A reshuffle of the Shadow Cabinet was undertaken in September 2023, which was described by the media as being dominated by Blairites and demoting MPs on the soft left.^{[80][81][82][83][80]}

In the aftermath of relatively poor results in the 2021 local elections, Starmer carried out a May 2021 shadow cabinet reshuffle. Starmer dismissed Angela Rayner as Chair of the Labour Party and National Campaign Coordinator following the elections.^[84][85] The move was criticised by John McDonnell, former Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester.^[86][87] The major outcome of the reshuffle was the demotion of the Shadow Chancellor, Anneliese Dodds.^[88] Rachel Reeves was appointed as the new Shadow Chancellor and Angela Rayner succeeded Reeves as Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. Nick Brown was dismissed as Chief Whip and replaced by his deputy, Alan Campbell. Valerie Vaz departed as Shadow Leader of the House of Commons and was replaced by Thangam Debbonaire, who in turn was succeeded as Shadow Secretary of State for Housing by Lucy Powell. On 11 May 2021, Starmer's Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) Carolyn Harris resigned, which The Times reported was after allegedly spreading false rumours about the private life of Angela Rayner prior to her dismissal.^[89][90] Sharon Hodgson was appointed as Starmer's new PPS.^[91]

The November 2021 shadow cabinet reshuffle, which was considered a surprise,^[92] included the promotion of Yvette Cooper and David Lammy to Shadow Home Secretary and Shadow Foreign Secretary, respectively, while Miliband was moved from Shadow Secretary of State for Business and Industrial Strategy to Shadow Secretary of State for Climate Change and Net Zero. The appointment of Cooper in particular was described by some commentators as a sign of Labour further splitting from the Corbyn leadership and moving to the right.^[93] The BBC's Laura Kuenssberg and Robert Peston of ITV News said that the reshuffle aimed to "combine experience and youth" and end "the fatuous project of trying to ... placate Labour's warring factions", and instead chose "shadow ministers for their perceived ability".^[94][95] In the New Statesman, journalist Stephen Bush suggested that Starmer had "removed underperforming shadow cabinet ministers and rewarded his biggest hitters – but the resulting shadow cabinet looks to be less than the sum of its parts."^[96]

In September 2023, Starmer reshuffled his shadow cabinet for the third time since taking over as leader.^[97][98] Starmer's deputy Angela Rayner received the shadow levelling up post, replacing Lisa Nandy who was demoted to the shadow minister for international development.^[99] The most senior members of the shadow cabinet remained in their positions.^[99] Rosena Allin-Khan, who was the shadow minister for mental health before the reshuffle, resigned from the Shadow Cabinet, criticising shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting's advocacy for outsourcing the NHS to the private sector.^[100] She also said that Starmer did "not see a space for a mental health portfolio in a Labour cabinet".^{[101][102][103]} The reshuffle coincided with the start of the tenure of Sue Gray as Starmer's new chief of staff.^[104]

Writers from The Guardian and Politico said that the Blairite wing of the party had prospered in the reshuffle to the detriment of the soft left of the party.^[105][106] One shadow minister, said of the reshuffle, "It's all the Blairites" and called it "an entirely factional takeover".^[107] Starmer said that he was putting his "strongest possible players on the pitch" ahead of the upcoming general election.^[99] Tom Belger writing for LabourList described the reshuffle as a continuing of "Labour’s right-ward march".^[108]

The Beergate political controversy involved an event in Durham on 30 April 2021, attended by Starmer and Angela Rayner, could have been in breach of COVID-19 lockdown restrictions. Labour and Starmer said, at the time and since, that the event complied with the rules for work gatherings, with a pause for food. The police, after investigating, cleared the Labour attendees, including Starmer and Rayner.

At the Durham event, shortly before the Hartlepool by-election and local elections, a Labour Party campaign team of seventeen people, including Starmer and deputy leader Angela Rayner, used the office of MP Mary Foy. Around 10 pm, a student Ivo Delingpole, took a short video through the office window of the event. Next day, The Sun published a brief story including Labour's statement that this was a permissible work event, and pictures from the video showing Starmer with a beer while others ate a takeaway. The story then got little attention.

While responding to Partygate allegations in December 2021, Johnson referred to the Durham event. In January 2022, he apologised for attending a "socially distanced drinks" gathering, saying he had believed it was a work event. Starmer said Johnson had breached the Ministerial Code by misleading Parliament, and asked him to resign. Conservatives featured in The Daily Telegraph and the Daily Mail called Starmer a hypocrite, alleging that he had similarly breached lockdown rules. On 7 February 2022, Durham Constabulary cleared Starmer over the allegation. They had reviewed the video and did not believe an offence had been established, so would take no further action.

On 12 April 2022, after Johnson was given a fixed penalty notice (FPN) for breaching COVID-19 regulations, Starmer again said Johnson should resign. Press and Conservatives made allegations about the Durham event and demanded a detailed investigation, on 6 May Durham Constabulary said they had begun investigating as new evidence had emerged. On 9 May, Starmer and Rayner said they were confident they had not broken any rules, but would resign if issued with FPNs, to demonstrate what they said were different principles to Johnson who remained in office. On 8 July 2022, Durham Constabulary announced that all attendees, including Rayner and Starmer, had been cleared of any wrongdoing.^[109] By then, the government was in crisis, and on 7 July Johnson had announced his resignation.

In August 2022, Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, Kathryn Stone, found that Starmer had breached the MPs' code of conduct eight times by failing to register interests on eight occasions.^[110] Stone had launched the investigation in June after complaints that Starmer had been late to register income and hospitality, and said that the breaches were "minor and/or inadvertent."^[111][112] A Labour spokesperson subsequently stated that Starmer had apologised, with Starmer having previously stated he was "absolutely confident" that there was "no problem."^[112][113]

While speaking in the House of Commons on 31 January 2022, Johnson falsely blamed Starmer for the non-prosecution of serial sex offender Jimmy Savile when Starmer was Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) in the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). Starmer was DPP in the years immediately prior to Savile's death but there is no evidence he was involved in the decision to not have him prosecuted.^[114] Johnson received criticism for the comment and his policy adviser, Munira Mirza, resigned three days later, saying that Johnson had made "a scurrilous accusation".^[115] Julian Smith, the former chief whip, and Simon Hoare were among Conservatives who called for Johnson to apologise. On 3 February, during an interview with Sky News, Johnson defended his comments, stating that in 2013, Starmer apologised because the CPS had not investigated Savile; however, Johnson then said: "I totally understand that he [Starmer] had nothing to do personally with those decisions".^[116]

Shortly before the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, 11 Labour backbench MPs signed a letter by the Stop the War Coalition that accused the UK government of "sabre-rattling" and said that NATO "should call a halt to its eastward expansion and commit to a new security deal for Europe which meets the needs of all states and peoples", whilst also arguing that NATO was an aggressive organisation due to military actions taken by its members outside its borders in the past. The MPs were asked by the party whips, representatives of the leadership tasked with maintaining discipline among Labour MPs, to remove their names from the statement under threat of being expelled from the party and all quickly agreed to do so. A spokesperson for the Labour Party said that this action ensured that every Labour MP understood that their party was on the side of "Britain, Nato, freedom and democracy".^[117][118] At around this time, Young Labour's Twitter account was suspended after it criticised the leadership policy towards NATO.^[119] In an interview with the BBC in March 2022, Starmer was asked whether he would be hoping that MPs who backed Stop the War "won't be standing at the next election or if they do whether [he would] be fully supporting them to do so". After repeatedly being accused of not answering the question, Starmer gave the answer of "well, they are Labour MPs and of course I support them, but all of our MPs will go through a process for selection into the next election".^[120]

The summer of 2022 saw significant amounts of industrial unrest.^[121][122] Starmer instructed members of his shadow cabinet to refrain from joining picket lines;^[123] some Labour MPs appeared on picket-lines including frontbenchers Kate Osborne, Paula Barker, Peter Kyle, and Navendu Mishra. The Labour Party's contingents in the Scottish and Welsh parliaments also took a different approach.^[124][125] Sam Tarry, Shadow Minister for Buses and Local Transport, was dismissed on 27 July after appearing on a rail strike picket. He said in a TV interview that workers should receive a pay rise in line with inflation though Labour policy was that pay increases should be based on negotiation. A spokesperson for the party said that "Sam Tarry was sacked because he booked himself onto media programmes without permission and then made up policy on the hoof."^[126] His dismissal was criticised by trade union leaders and Tarry wrote in an opinion piece for the i that "failing to join the striking rail workers on a picket line would have been an abject dereliction of duty for me as a Labour MP."^[127][128]

In April 2023, after writing an article in The Observer, former Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott was suspended as a Labour MP pending an investigation.^[129][130] In the article, Abbott claimed that although "many types of white people with points of difference" such as Jewish, Irish or Traveller people can experience prejudice, they are not subject to racism "all their lives".^[130][129] Abbott later apologised for the article, saying that she had erroneously sent an early draft of her article.^[129] A Labour Party statement said that the comments were "deeply offensive and wrong".^[130] Starmer said that she was suspended due to anti-Semitism.^[129] The Labour Party National Executive Committee concluded its inquiry into her comments in December 2023 and issued her with a "formal warning". The Labour Party restored the whip on 28 May 2024. Abbott said she had been barred from standing as a Labour Party candidate at the 2024 general election, but Starmer later said she would be "free" to stand as a Labour candidate.^[131]

In June 2023, Neal Lawson, the chair of the centre-left think tank, Compass, faced possible expulsion from the Labour Party after 44 years of membership due to tweeting in 2021 in favour of other political parties working together with Labour against the Conservatives.^[132] In response to being notified of his possible expulsion, Lawson said that the party had become obsessed with "petty tyranny" and under the leadership of Keir Starmer the party had been captured by a clique who are "behaving like playground bullies".^[132] Labour MP Jon Cruddas accused the party under Starmer of being right-wing, illiberal and of enacting a "witch-hunt", calling the decision regarding Lawson a "disgrace".^[133]

In October 2023, during his speech at the Labour Party Conference, Starmer was covered in glitter by protester Yaz Ashmawi, who later apologised for touching him but did not apologise for using glitter or protesting.^[134] In May 2024, Starmer offered the glitter-covered jacket to a charity founded in memory of his murdered colleague Jo Cox, raising £2,700 for the charity.^[135]

After the 7 October attacks which began the Israel–Hamas war, Starmer expressed support for Israel, condemned "terrorists of Hamas", and said, "This action by Hamas does nothing for Palestinians. And Israel must always have the right to defend her people."^[136][137] In an interview with LBC on 11 October 2023, Starmer was asked whether it would be appropriate for Israel to totally cut off power and water supplies to the Gaza Strip, with Starmer replying that "I think that Israel does have that right" and that "obviously everything should be done within international law".^[138][139] On 20 October, after criticism and resignations of Labour councillors, Starmer said that he only meant that Israel had the right to defend itself.^[139][140] Starmer had said that a ceasefire would only benefit Hamas for future attacks, instead calling for a humanitarian pause to allow aid to reach Gaza.^[141] As of 6 November 2023, 50 of Labour's councillors had resigned over the issue.^[142]

On 16 November 2023, Starmer suffered a major rebellion when 56 of his MPs (including ten frontbenchers) defied a three-line whip in voting for a Scottish National Party (SNP) motion proposed by Stephen Flynn to support an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.^[143][144] Prior to the vote, Starmer stated that Labour MPs with positions in his Shadow Cabinet would be sacked if they voted in favour of the ceasefire vote.^[143] This then led to the loss of ten frontbenchers, including eight shadow ministers.^[143] In December 2023, Starmer followed Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in changing his stance by calling for a "sustainable ceasefire" in relation to Gaza, which also came after the Foreign Secretary David Cameron's same change in position. Starmer stated his support for a "two-stage" "two-state solution".^{[145][146][147]} The Labour Party under Starmer suspended several parliamentary candidates and MPs, including Graham Jones, Andy McDonald, Azhar Ali and Kate Osamor, for allegedly making anti-Semitic comments about Israel during the Israel-Hamas war, or for describing its conduct as genocide.^[148][149] Jones said Britons who go to Israel to fight for the Israel Defense Forces "should be locked up".^[150] Osamor wrote that there was an "international duty" to remember the victims of the Holocaust and that "more recent genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and now Gaza" should also be remembered.^[151] On 18 February 2024, Starmer called for a "ceasefire that lasts" and said it must "happen now", having previously declined to call for one.^{[152][153][154]}

• Labour Party leadership of Jeremy Corbyn – Starmer's predecessor in the role
• History of the Labour Party (UK)
• Labour Party (UK)