Great Britain: “Starmerism” takes shape

“Change” was Sir Kir Starmer’s motto-significance during the early-month campaign in Great Britain. And it may have been a vague concept by a politician that the press has described as “insane”, but it appeared in the polls of July 4, convinced the British. Now, Starmer as Prime Minister is invited to go to the next track: to actually bring change through his rule.

A few weeks after the election, for a moderate politician who used to avoid intense rhetoric, Kir Starmer suddenly sounds extremely ambitious. As he addressed the House of Commons after the king’s speech last week, he said that his government’s goal is “nothing less than the renewal of the country”. And although it still confuses people somewhat by stating that it leads “a government without denominations”, as time goes by it begins to clear the landscape as to the policies it intends to implement but also what the so-called “starmerism” stands for: stateizations, labor, housing, price reduction in energy, fiscal rigour are only few axes of the dozens of new bills to be deposited in the House.

Initially, Kir Starmer’s government appears to be the most invasive that has existed in Great Britain since the 1970s, with many analysts arguing that it seeks to correct the market failure by intervention in areas where capitalist models have not worked. The British “Observer” writes in this regard that “it is capitalism that accepts the free market but not the free version for everyone”.

Reforming urban planning to grant greater authority to government over landowners in order to develop new infrastructure and social housing. Labour reforms to ensure fairer wages, more rights for workers and teacher recruitment.

Stateisation of railways and the creation of new public services, including an industrial council, an energy company to accelerate investments in new green technologies and reduce electricity and gas bills and a regulatory authority for football.

These are only some of the 40 radical laws included in the government program which King Charles read on the throne of the House of Lords. In fact, the number of planned new laws presented in the king’s speech is among the greatest ever noted.

As explained by the British network Sky News, this is because Kir Starmer wants to give the impression that the party was working hard on the opposition and that it is ready to rule – and a government program with 40 new laws makes it clear that they have not been drafted in the last fortnight. At the same time, Starmer wanted to make clear from the first minute his desire to maintain the stability and budgetary rigour missing from previous governments, especially that of Liz Trache. It was clear in the very first paragraph the king gave: ‘Every decision will be consistent with tax regulations. We will legislate to ensure that any change in taxes or expenditure is subject to an independent assessment by the Office of Budgetary Responsibility” (the independent control mechanism to which new powers are expected to be delegated). However, it must be borne in mind that government plans and government achievements are not the same thing. The laws to be passed may always be embalmed, deviated, modified or the government may run out of time or even the will to move them forward. Of course, in this case the government has a comfortable majority, so any “revolution” within the party should be too dynamic to cause real problems to Starmer, which gives him the opportunity to implement his program with greater freedom. For the time being, Labour want to make the most of the “period of grace” enjoyed by each government in the first time it is in power – and which probably for the Starmer government will be short-lived, according to “Guardian”, in a country where public services have been dissolved due to the austerity that followed after the 2008 economic crisis and where inequalities and child poverty hold the highest rates in Europe, with citizens expecting results as soon as possible.

Under these circumstances, the British newspaper explains that Starmer is trying to show how he makes his election promises, or at least how he starts the process to do so. However, he said he would avoid “experiment of the easy solution”, warning that serious reforms need patience and time, in which he will need to convince a large number of skeptical electorates about the government’s capacity, but also to keep his party united – the country is outraged by internal party disputes, as demonstrated by the Conservatives’ low percentages in the election.

However, the crucial elements of the government’s intentions, especially how it intends to approach the reform of the public sector, remain unclear, while the “Financial Times” note that Starmer and his party are predicted to be fermented through events that are still unpredictable and conflicts that have not yet taken place, as these are only the first weeks in power. Even so, “starmerism” has slowly begun to take shape.

In June 2023, a year before the election, Starmer gave an interview with “Time” where he was asked to nominate “starmerism”: “Recognise that our economy must be corrected. That solving climate change is not just an obligation, it is the greatest opportunity we have for our country in the future. To realize that public services must be reformed, that every child and every place must have the best opportunities and that we need a safe environment, safe roads, reduce crime.” In the same year, asked for the same subject answer the ‘Economist’: “To build a better, different Britain. “Starmerism” refers to both “how” and “what”. We have an inefficient, over-assembled state and five ‘missions’: development, the National Health System (NHS), carbon pollution reduction, crime and education. We will carry out “missions” with individual, bold goals. Economic growth is the cornerstone of everything. Above all, this means offering a stable environment after a decade of political turmoil – which inspire extremely political jokes, but for the economy and investment it is a disaster.”