Sir Keir Starmer’s Endless Relaunches: A Ship Going Nowhere

How many relaunches does it take to steer a government? For Sir Keir Starmer, the answer seems to be: perpetually one more.

Like a captain constantly adjusting a rudderless vessel, Starmer has transformed governance into an art of perpetual recalibration. His “Plan for Change” is less a strategic roadmap and more a testament to political indecision—a maritime metaphor of a leader who promises destination while continuously readjusting the compass.

Let’s count the casualties of Starmer’s rhetorical inflation. Five Missions in July 2023. Six First Steps in June 2024. Seven Pillars of Growth by October. Now, six more “milestones” in December. This numerical proliferation isn’t strategy—it’s statistical sleight of hand.

Each relaunch feels like watching a bureaucratic magic trick: now you see a promise, now you don’t. The word “milestone” has become a linguistic placebo, repeated eight times in his latest speech as if repetition might conjure actual progress.

Consider the brutal arithmetic of Starmer’s pledges. Building 1.5 million homes sounds impressive until housing experts like Hugo Bessis demolish the fantasy. Reducing NHS waiting times? A target not achieved in over a decade, now recycled as fresh ambition. Preparing 75% of children for school? Noble, except one in three children currently start school fundamentally unprepared.

The Labour leadership seems to have confused announcement with achievement. Each pledge is a press release waiting to be forgotten, each mission a PowerPoint slide masquerading as substantive policy.

Critically, these aren’t just missed targets—they represent a deeper malaise. Starmer, who once positioned himself as a forensic reformer, now epitomises the very performative politics he once criticised. His government increasingly resembles a marketing department desperate to rebrand failure as potential.

The national economic context makes these promises even more hollow. Raising employer national insurance contributions while promising higher living standards is economic doublethink. The Confederation of British Industry hasn’t missed this contradiction, warning that such measures could further stifle growth.

What we’re witnessing isn’t governance—it’s a perpetual press conference. Each relaunch is an admission of previous strategic bankruptcy, each milestone a tacit acknowledgement that the last batch of promises dissolved upon contact with reality.

The most damning indictment? Even Starmer’s own cabinet can’t consistently articulate these ever-shifting priorities. Wes Streeting’s live interview fumble, where he couldn’t recall one of the “Six First Steps,” wasn’t just a gaffe—it was a metaphor for the administration’s fundamental incoherence.

This isn’t leadership. This is political vertigo—a constant spinning that creates the illusion of movement while remaining stationary.

Of course, pledges, milestones, and promises have been discarded on the road to No. 10 like so much political ballast. Why abandon a winning combination now? Starmer’s political playbook reads like a how-to manual for the art of promising everything and delivering nothing. Each relaunch is less a course correction and more a sleight of hand—a magic trick where the rabbit of real change remains forever hidden, while the audience applauds the empty hat of rhetoric.

The irony is delicious: a man who built his reputation as a forensic prosecutor now prosecutes nothing so effectively as the murder of political hope. His promises don’t die—they’re carefully euthanised, wrapped in bureaucratic euphemisms and quietly interred in the graveyard of forgotten manifestos.

The Six Milestones: Lofty Goals, Grim Realities

1. Higher Living Standards
   Starmer promised to ease the cost-of-living crisis and ensure working families have more money. However, critics argue that Labour’s first budget, which raised employer national insurance contributions, undermines this goal. The Confederation of British Industry warns these measures could worsen growth and hiring prospects.
2. Building 1.5 Million Homes
   Starmer acknowledged the bold action required to meet this target, but housing experts are sceptical. Hugo Bessis of the Centre for Economics and Business Research has pointed out that previous governments have repeatedly failed to overcome planning, economic, and social barriers to meet similar promises.
3. Reducing NHS Waiting Times
   Labour aims to cut waiting times for 92% of patients to 18 weeks by 2029, a pledge not achieved in over a decade. Experts like Siva Anandaciva of The King’s Fund warn that such promises may be unrealistic, with Labour seemingly doubling down on NHS reforms that have yet to show results.
4. Recruiting 13,000 Police Officers
   This target is one of the more achievable ones, though critics argue Labour’s numbers are padded, with fewer than a third of the new officers being actually new. Additionally, the Law Society warns that increased policing will strain courts and the legal system without accompanying investment.
5. Preparing 75% of Children for School
   With one in three children starting school unprepared, Labour’s target is ambitious. However, early education experts caution that existing gaps, particularly for disadvantaged children, make this milestone a monumental challenge under current conditions.
6. Clean Power by 2030
   Labour’s goal to decarbonise electricity within six years is a cornerstone of its energy plan. Yet industry leaders, such as Alice Delahunty of National Grid, have described this target as “incredibly stretching,” requiring major policy reforms to have even a chance of success.

For a prime minister who once derided political sloganeering, Starmer’s tenure is beginning to look like an endless parade of bullet-pointed promises. His latest pledges, while bold, face significant barriers in execution, from economic constraints to entrenched systemic challenges.

Starmer has repeatedly argued that Labour offers “change” while mocking the Conservatives for their inertia. Yet his own approach increasingly mirrors the performative politics he decried, where relaunches and promises take precedence over tangible achievements.

Five months into his premiership, this pattern of rhetoric without results risks undermining public trust. The question remains: will Starmer’s government be remembered for its milestones—or for never quite reaching them?

Paul Knaggs

Editor, founder, Labour Heartlands, Citizen journalist. 𝙁𝙧𝙚𝙚𝙗𝙤𝙧𝙣 𝙀𝙣𝙜𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙝 𝙍𝙖𝙙𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙡 𝙎𝙤𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙩. Fighting a constant struggle with dyslexia that’s overcome with a burning desire to speak out against the corrupt political system and the social injustices it creates. Advocate for Free speech and open, accountable, democracy. #GTTO