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For the PM, it’s a virtue that there’s no such thing as ‘Starmerism’, which begs the question a year into his premiership: how can we believe a man with no beliefs will get anything done? Isabel Hardman takes a closer look at what he needs to do as his position becomes increasingly precarious
I
came in for one simple reason: that I wanted to change the lives of working people for the better. And I don’t believe in anything else.” Last week, as Keir Starmer tried his best to celebrate a year in government, he fell once again to boasting that he didn’t believe in anything. For the prime minister, it is a virtue that there is no such thing as “Starmierism”, as it means he’s not weighed down by dogma. He went on to say that he didn’t believe in performative politics or rhetorical speeches, because it was the change that mattered.
Of course, it is the change that mattered, but Sir Keir is still talking as vaguely as the cover of his manifesto about “change” without being able to flesh it out. Last week’s events suggested that he doesn’t really know. The government had to gut a bill that it had claimed was about welfare reform, but which was dominated by Treasury-driven cuts to benefits.
