Political positions of Keir Starmer

The political positions of Keir Starmer, the prime minister of the United Kingdom since 2024 and Leader of the Labour Party since 2020, have frequently changed. Views of his political philosophy are diverse.
During the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn, Starmer adopted soft left political positions, and described his politics as being "red-green". During the 1980s and 1990s, Starmer also wrote for Socialist Alternatives and Socialist Lawyer; by the 2020s, he at times upheld and at other times rejected the socialist label. Starmer succeeded Corbyn by winning the 2020 leadership election on a left-wing platform, pledging to uphold many of his predecessor's economic policies whilst working to end the issue of antisemitism within the party. However, as opposition leader and later as prime minister, Starmer's Labour Party is considered to be far closer to the political centre. Some commentators described Starmer as exhibiting an authoritarian approach, and critics on the Labour left have expressed anxiety over being purged from the party under Starmer's leadership.

Starmerism

Views of Keir Starmer's political philosophy are diverse. Some commentators, judging that Starmer has led his party back to the centre ground to try to improve its electability, have likened what he has accomplished in this regard to Tony Blair's development of New Labour. Starmer's Labour has been observed to have stronger ties to New Labour than recent incarnations of the party have had. Others interpret his changes of policy as evidence that he has no clearly defined philosophy at all, save a rejection of populism. Another contrasting belief is that Starmer definitively subscribes to the left end of the socialist spectrum, arguing that "Labour under Starmer has advanced a politics of anti-neoliberalism like that of Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell", and that Starmer "differs markedly from New Labour" in "aspiring to restructure an economic model perceived to have failed". Figures including Starmer's former boss, the barrister Geoffrey Robertson, as well as his former advisor Simon Fletcher, and the journalist and broadcaster Peter Oborne, have described Starmer as exhibiting an authoritarian approach. Despite the lack of any consensus about the character and even existence of Starmer's ideology, it has acquired a neologism, Starmerism, and his supporters have been called Starmerites.
In April 2023, Starmer gave an interview to The Economist on defining Starmerism. In this interview, two main strands of Starmerism were identified. The first strand focused on a critique of the British state for being too ineffective and overcentralised. The answer to this critique was to base governance on five main missions to be followed over two terms of government; these missions would determine all government policy. The second strand was the adherence to an economic policy of "modern supply-side economics" based on expanding economic productivity by increasing participation in the labour market, reducing inequality, expanding skills, mitigating the impact of Brexit and simplifying the construction planning process. In June 2023, Starmer gave an interview to Time where he was asked to define Starmerism. He said: "Recognizing that our economy needs to be fixed. Recognizing that climate change isn't just an obligation; it's the single biggest opportunity that we've got for our country going forward. Recognizing that public services need to be reformed, that every child and every place should have the best opportunities and that we need a safe environment, safe streets, et cetera."

Relationship to socialism

Early radical period

Starmer wrote articles for the magazines Socialist Alternatives and Socialist Lawyer as a young man in the 1980s and 1990s. In July 1986, Starmer wrote in the first issue of Socialist Alternatives that trade unions should have had control over the "industry and community". He wrote in Socialist Lawyer that "Karl Marx was, of course, right" in saying it was pointless to believe a change of society could only be achieved by arguing about fundamental rights.
Gavin Millar, a former legal colleague of Starmer, has described his politics during this period as "red-green", a characterisation Starmer has agreed with. During the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn, Starmer adopted soft left political positions whilst describing his politics as being "red-green".

Evolution to the centre

Starmer succeeded Corbyn by winning the 2020 leadership election on a left-wing platform, pledging to uphold many of his predecessor's economic policies whilst working to end the issue of antisemitism within the party. In a January 2020 interview during his leadership campaign, Starmer described himself as a socialist, and stated in an opinion piece published by The Guardian the same month that his advocacy of socialism is motivated by "a burning desire to tackle inequality and injustice".
As opposition leader, Starmer eventually moved Labour toward the political centre. In an interview with the is Francis Elliott in December 2021, Starmer refused to characterise himself as a socialist, asking "What does that mean?" He added: "The Labour Party is a party that believes that we get the best from each other when we come together, collectively, and ensure that you know, we give people both opportunity and support as they needed."
In 2023, Starmer removed the ten socialism-based pledges that he had made in the 2020 party leadership contest from his website, after having abandoned or rolled back on many of these, citing the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic situation as reasons for having to "adapt". Critics on the Labour left complained of being purged from the party under Starmer's leadership as he moved the party towards the centre.
In the run-up to the 2024 general election, Starmer told the BBC: "I would describe myself as a socialist. I describe myself as a progressive. I'd describe myself as somebody who always puts the country first and party second."

Analysis and commentary

Domestic issues

Reform of public institutions

Starmer has repeatedly emphasised the reform of public institutions, localism, and devolution. He has pledged to abolish the House of Lords, which he has described as "indefensible", during the first term of a Labour government and to replace it with a directly elected Assembly of the Regions and Nations, the details of which will be subject to public consultation. He criticised the Conservative Party for handing peerages to "cronies and donors".
Upon becoming leader of the Labour Party, Starmer tasked former Labour prime minister Gordon Brown with recommending British constitutional reforms. The report was published in 2022 and was endorsed and promoted by Starmer, and recommended the abolition of the House of Lords, extending greater powers to local councils and mayors, and deeper devolution to the countries of the UK. Labour's 2024 election manifesto Change committed to the removal of the remaining hereditary peers from the chamber, setting a mandatory retirement age of 80, and beginning a consultation on replacing the Lords with a "more representative" body.
Starmer favours Britain's current first-past-the-post voting system and opposes proposals for electoral reform, such as the adoption of proportional representation, although he has expressed support for PR in the past. In December 2024, he declined to provide debate time for Sarah Olney's Ten Minute Rule bill on PR as "not our policy". He has been criticised for his attitude to the issue of Britain's voting system, including by McDonnell, who accused him of acting like a monarch.

Public services

Starmer supports social ownership and investment in the UK's public services, including the National Health Service. During the 2020 Labour leadership election, he pledged to increase income tax for the top 5% of earners and to end corporate tax avoidance; he receded from the income tax commitment in 2023. He advocates the reversal of the Conservative Party's cuts in corporation tax and supported Labour's anti-austerity proposals under Corbyn's leadership. On social inequality, Starmer proposes "national wellbeing indicators" to measure the country's performance on health, inequality, homelessness, and the natural environment. He has called for an "overhaul" of the UK's Universal Credit scheme.
Opposing Scottish independence and a second referendum on the subject, the Labour Party under Starmer's leadership has set up a constitutional convention to address what he describes as a belief among people across the UK that "decisions about me should be taken closer to me". Starmer is against the reunification of Ireland, having stated that he would be "very much on the side of Unionists" if there were to be a border poll.