“We’re four and a half years away from the next election,” Starmer said, sitting at a dinner table in a traditional Ukrainian restaurant in Kiev. “I remember that four-and-a-half years ago Boris Johnson was a very highly rated prime minister and most commentators were saying he would be prime minister for the next 10 years. I strongly believe in taking a step forward, facing the challenges that come your way, keeping a long-term perspective, and not getting distracted by the noise.”
During the first six months of Labor’s government, the noise was at times deafening.
Starmer’s government has been in turmoil, with internal divisions, a scandal over his decision to accept thousands of pounds in free gifts, and a tax-hike budget that has disappointed the business community and left pensioners at a high cost. I was disappointed.
Amid a weak economy and volatile bond markets, opinion polls this week showed Nigel Farage’s far-right Reform UK Party trailing Labor by just one point. Some of Mr Starmer’s colleagues are privately considering who could replace him if ratings don’t improve.
10 year keel
Mr Starmer claimed it would take Labor 10 years to get Britain back on track. But given everything that has happened so far, does he personally intend to serve a full two terms as prime minister? “Yes. We want a decade of national regeneration. “I always said it would take a long time,” he replied. “The first term of a Labor government will see significant changes, but we are talking about a decade of national regeneration and I will lead from the front.”
By the end of his second five-year term, Mr Starmer will be 71 years old. The approach taken by Mr Starmer and his Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, is to bring forward tax increases, spending cuts and all sorts of dire consequences when the government takes office. force. They hope voters will forgive them or forget when the next election finally comes and some of Labour’s promises are realized.
