It’s safe to say that coming up to a year into this Labour administration that some rookie political errors have been made. This is understandable from a party who had been in opposition for fourteen years prior – however the lack of discipline must come to an end. The Labour Party have this tendency to put themselves in a position where they do not have much room for manoeuvre, such as the Prime Minister going on the record saying that both the Chancellor and Foreign Secretary will remain in post for the entire duration of this parliament. The short-term benefits of this are obvious, ensuring confidence and stability within the financial markets and pushing global leaders to build a rapport with Lammy as they are told that he is here to stay. This action, like many decisions made by the Labour camp in the past few years, could come back to bite them.
The Prime Minister made the decision to say that Reeves was going to remain in her position in the midst of heavy speculation over her previous place of work. In the mind of Starmer, and as pragmatic as he is, his mindset was most likely at a place where he was thinking that he has an issue to deal with, so what is the quickest solution as of right now to remedy it and put out the fire before it gets out of hand. By getting behind Reeves in the way that he did, the Prime Minister solved the issue of the day, but at a potential great cost. If Starmer still got behind Reeves but refrained from saying she would be in post for the entirety of the parliament, he would have achieved the same end result in deescalating the situation, as well as giving him the space to make some serious changes to his team if needs be in the years closer to the general election.
This was very easily a situation where the press wanted a headline, so they were clutching at straws to get one. Being new to the job Starmer would naturally be more precautious now than we may see him be later on into this administration, and as time goes on we should see a higher degree of political calculation from the Prime Minister. He will soon learn that certain situations do not call for great levels of intervention and the most appropriate course of action is to do nothing and wait for it to blow over.
The subject of personnel is not the only area where Labour need to ensure that they aren’t putting themselves in a difficult position; policies and the programme for government must also have an element of consistency in order to have the credibility necessary. They must ensure they only pull the policy levers for plans which they have the political capital to pursue.
A resounding example of this already within this Parliament is the private member’s assisted dying bill. The government should have tried to speak out on the bill and quash it at the source. Without getting into the moral argument of the bill, it is politically clumsy to introduce it now, especially when both the Health and Justice Secretaries speak out against it. The government are running on the agenda of fixing the foundations of the NHS, making it one of their flagship policies. Part of the reason for this is that simple procedures and processes cannot be carried out as there are some real, fundamental and deep-rooted issues in the health service. Trying to incorporate an assisted dying framework, which in itself has major apparent failings from the draft legislation, into a system which is as broken as the NHS will only end in a calamity, with the government being seen as the authors of it. By not quashing the bill, they are most likely blocking their health policy agenda.
Labour’s first year in government has been marked by moments of promise but also by avoidable missteps. The party cannot afford to continue making decisions that limit its flexibility and create unnecessary political headaches. While stability and consistency are valuable, they must be balanced with strategic foresight to ensure that Labour retains the ability to adapt as circumstances evolve. Starmer’s administration must learn from these early errors and sharpen its political instincts, ensuring that both personnel decisions and policy priorities are carefully calculated to avoid self-inflicted wounds. With a highly competitive political landscape and the next election far from a foregone conclusion, with three other political parties currently on the same vote share as them in the polls. The government must get to grips with the fact that political calculation is absolutely paramount for their optics at the next election.
