Tony Blair had enjoyed at least a two-year honeymoon after Labour’s historic victory in 1997. Despite his antics, Conservative Boris Johnson did not plummet in the polls until at least eighteen months after he came to power in Downing Street, when “Partygate” occurred. The revelations began to appear on the front pages of British newspapers.
Of course, the current context is not the same, after fourteen years of budget cuts, a near-paralysed economy and an acrimonious Brexit; but for Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer, the state of grace only lasted a few weeks.
Even before the Labour leader has begun to lay out a coherent programme following his party’s clear victory in the general election on 4 July, he is already at an all-time low in the polls. According to a study published on 22 September by the More in Common association, 60% of Britons believe that the Labour Party will not be re-elected in the next general election; and 17% of those who voted for the Labour Party already say they regret it.
According to an Opinium poll on 20 September, Keir Starmer is even less popular than Rishi Sunak, his predecessor in Downing Street, with a negative approval rating of 26% (24% of respondents like him, but 50% disapprove).
On Tuesday 24 September, the Prime Minister attempted to regain control by delivering a speech at his party’s annual conference in Liverpool, acknowledging that it is ” hard ” ask “more effort” to the British, but repeating that his government is committed to being “in service” of the country and its “workers” and that he has TO “long-term plan ” For ” rebuild the country. »
Austerity that goes wrong
His comments were less discouraging than those he made at the end of August, when he announced from Downing Street that the first budget of the British left, in the autumn, would be approved “painful”At almost the same time, his Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, warned that the Government was going to deprive 11 million pensioners of their energy benefit just before winter, arguing that a shortfall had to be made up. audience “unexpected” left by the conservatives.
This communication was intended to point the finger at the Tories for the state of the country, a bit like David Cameron had justified his austerity budget in 2010 by the alleged failings of Labour’s Gordon Brown during the 2008 financial crisis.
You have 59.51% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.
