The nights are getting longer in the UK, and those warm summer months seem a long time ago.
Like when Keir Starmer walked into Downing Street in July with a majority of 174 seats, few would have predicted that within a hundred days, polling would show voters preferring Rishi Sunak’s government.
The speed of Labour’s collapse in popularity has been remarkable, with Starmer’s personal approval ratings plummeting from +6 in July to -21 now.
Meanwhile, 69% of voters say that Starmer’s government ‘feels like more of the same,’ and 59% say Labour is ‘sleazy’.
Frankly, I’m not surprised. The warning signs for Labour should have been evident during the election campaign.
Voters I spoke to up and down the country were certainly desperate for change after 14 years of disastrous Tory rule but were unimpressed by Labour’s timid approach.
That’s why, in record numbers, many people voted Green for the first time, excited by our offer of real change and real hope. Of course, I won’t deny that many also voted for Labour.
But that was not because of enthusiasm for Starmer’s party – over a third of voters said their main reason for backing Labour at the election was to get the Tories out.
Everyone understands that it takes more than 100 days to reverse the damage done over 14 years by successive Conservative governments. But this was all the more reason for Labour to act boldly upon entering office.
Sadly, their approach has been anything but that. As Starmer entered Number 10, the Green Party set out 10 steps Labour needed to take in their first 100 days.
So how have they measured up? Some obvious failings stand out. First, they have refused to scrap the two-child benefit cap.
That failing is made even more damning when data from the Child Poverty Action Group shows that 10,000 children have fallen into poverty since Labour came into power under this cruel policy.
There are other areas where Labour’s timidity is equally stark. For instance, they have refused to bring criminal charges against water companies for persistently discharging sewage into our rivers and seas, only promising legal action if the companies deliberately hinder investigations.
On transport, they have yet to produce a plan for reopening local rail links — and have even announced that some existing rail investment projects could be scrapped.
On Gaza, Labour has failed to recognise a Palestinian state, publish the legal advice on arms sales as they asked the Conservatives to do, or end all such trade to Israel, despite what many believe is mounting evidence of genocide in the region, all steps that the Greens have been calling for in recent months.
Elsewhere, Labour’s record is more mixed. There have been positives, like introducing a Renters’ Rights Bill and agreeing on a pay settlement with junior doctors, but there’s still a tangible sense of them playing it safe, lacking vision.
And the polling data shows how the public clearly isn’t impressed – while that caution is undeniable.
They have, for example, ruled out controlling rents as part of their plans to make the sector work better.
And in a real demonstration that they haven’t grasped quite how much some of the poorest people are struggling, they’ve decided to scrap winter fuel payments for millions of pensioners.
Asking some of the most vulnerable in our society to pay the cost of a black hole in public finances that could be closed by instead asking the wealthiest to contribute more is, in my view, bad politics, bad economics, and bad principles.
How then can Keir Starmer start to turn his premiership around? The answer lies in the upcoming budget. Starmer needs to embrace the platform for change on which he was voted in. In recent decades, the UK has become an increasingly unequal country
Living standards for all but the richest of us fell significantly as the cost-of-living crisis worsened and public services decayed yet further. Reports that Reeves might unbutton her self-imposed fiscal straitjacket to increase public investment are very welcome if true.
But Starmer and his Chancellor also need to ask those with the broadest shoulders to pay more towards public services.
For instance, they should raise capital gains tax to the same level as income tax. Why should those who can afford to make money from investments pay less tax on that income than what’s in hard earned pay packets?
Beyond this, Labour needs the vision to invest in a green economic future.
A fair and green transition will ensure we reach net zero, strengthen the economy, attract other investment, and bring down energy bills.
Keir Starmer’s collapsing poll ratings must serve as a wake-up call to change tack and start giving people hope, not double down on the politics of doom and despair. He promised the people of the UK change, an improvement on the Tories, and now he needs to deliver like he really means it.
