How has Keir Starmer's political power been spent so quickly?

Read time: 4 mins

In brief…

• Keir Starmer’s approval rating has plummeted since Labour’s historic win in the 2024 General Election – with his mistakes including blaming the Tories for all of the UK’s problems and an imbalance of power and authority, says academic David Runciman.
• Runciman also blames disillusionment in UK politics, as well as a perception of the system becoming more like “entertainment” in recent years.
• He says people are constantly hoping a different government and leader can fix the UK’s problems, but adds that all signs suggest this isn’t the case.

What’s the story?

In July 2024, Keir Starmer steered the Labour Party to a historic win in the General Election.

In January 2026, polling suggests most Brits think he is doing a bad job as Prime Minister, and his approval rating has slumped to a shockingly low -46.

Professor David Runciman, an author and academic and podcaster, tells The News Agents he believes Starmer's biggest mistake was blaming all problems in the UK on 14 years of Tory government, and failing to recognise the broader issues.

"It's a mistake for any politician to think the problem with our politics is that the people on the other side are not serious people, and that your side is serious," Runciman says, speaking with Lewis Goodall.

"I think Starmer profoundly believed that, and part of the problem that he finds himself in now is if he does believe it, he's got to un-believe it pretty quickly.

"You can almost see him physically struggling to un-believe it, because he comes across in many ways more and more serious."

That seriousness may have appealed to voters after the chaotic final few years of the previous Tory government, but since his election win, people have been left wanting more.

"One of the biggest problems that Starmer has – as he tries to assert his authority, his seriousness, that the 'grown ups' are back – is that he is sounding like a politician – but this is a very anti-political age," Runciman says.

"People's patience is shorter. They are willing to give politicians far less time than they used to, and there are many more outlets for their anger."

‘People think a different Prime Minister will resolve the situation – it likely won’t’

Starmer also came to power during a rise of populism in mainstream politics, which has left the status quo fractured, chaotic – and to many people more entertaining, for better or worse.

"The outcomes are less predictable, and there's more churn and chaos around it," Runciman says.

"The horse race is more dramatic. People are falling off."

But while potentially entertained, people have also become deeply disillusioned.

"We have the most unpopular Prime Minister and chancellor in recorded history," he adds.

"I think people are unhappy and often despairing of the future, and we spend all of our time wondering who's going to win the next election."

But would a change in Downing Street make any difference? Runicman believes not – but people may keep believing it for a long time.

"There's a feeling that the next one will somehow resolve this, and that feeling is real," he says.

"People keep asking: 'Is this the moment where we go back to making this work? Is this the moment where we finally break free from the shackles?"

"Everything signals it doesn't matter.”

Power vs authority: Where is Starmer lacking?

When Labour won 412 seats in the 2024 election, Keir Starmer entered Downing Street with a huge majority and an enormous amount of power in the House of Commons.

But power – as Runciman explains – is very different to authority and this, he believes, is what the Prime Minister continues to lack.

"He won a huge parliamentary majority, and there was a divided opposition," he says.

"This looks like the field is clear, but didn't give him a lot of authority, because it was a weak election win."

Since the results of the 2024 General Election, there has been widespread speculation that Labour's win wasn't due to any great love and respect for the party – and instead due to a deep dislike and exhaustion of Tory rule.

"He wants to assert his authority by pointing to the fact he won this election, but it's not enough.

"My feeling is that people sense there's something fraudulent about the mismatch between his sense of his own authority, command of this situation, and the complete absence of it in reality."

Starmer has also been criticised for seeming like a "boring, uncharismatic" politician – but Runciman doesn't believe this is what has landed him in the unfortunate polling position he finds himself in ahead of the upcoming May by-elections.

"It's not like Starmer is the most spectacularly boring, uncharismatic politician anyone has ever seen," he says.

"He's not, and people really liked him. They thought he was ‘the grown up’. I'm not sure he was, but they thought he was, and he came across as authentic, and often sounded quite passionate about it.

"He does not know how to compensate for his weaknesses."

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