Keir Starmer’s Eventful First Month Sets Tone of His Premiership

Image credit: Keir Starmer Instagram

It has been 51 days since the Labour leader has been in office, lifting the possibility of him winning the title as the shortest-serving prime minister in British history, as his premiership officially outlasts Liz Truss’s who resigned on her 50th day.

Starmer has had an eventful month so far, as the far-right riots soared across the nation, his government seeks to “reset” relationships with nations and regions.

This morning, Starmer expressed his strong support for Ukraine as the day marks the country’s 33rd Independence Day. His vow for an unending support for Ukraine “for as long as it takes” highlights his pledges during the election once again.

His PR works on his Instagram on his first few weeks have also received some positive attentions from the public, as the contents fantastically captures the moments of the PM resetting the tone of the relationship with Europe over handshakes with each leaders, or “resetting [the] partnership” with British regions over a pint of beer with the Irish Taoiseach.

The biggest event Starmer had to handle must be the extremists’ riots that broke out across the UK this summer. The riots were quickly spread by the far-right extremists as a response to the killing of three girls who were attending a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport. Such violence was triggered by online misinformation about the identity of the alleged killer being a Muslim migrant, which resulted in the far-right protesters targeting immigration offices, asylum seekers’ housings, and even random shops owned by ethnic minority owners. 

HuffPost exclusively announced that Starmer’s personal approval ratings “has soared” as the public approves his response to the riots. According to their survey responses, the public were happy to see Starmer’s strong approach with social unrests and strictly policing the law and order of the nation, despite of his party’s colour.

Nevertheless, Starmer’s government still has significant challenges to overcome in the coming weeks. As Starmer made it clear well before the election that scrapping the Tory-era policy was not on his agenda, it is expected that some significant controversies within the party will rise on topics such as the two-child cap and the winter fuel payment cuts which are backed by the PM.

In a month’s time, Labour will hold its annual conference in Liverpool as the governing party for the first time since 2009. Will the night end with a celebration in the air or would it only leave the leader’s party a great division? Starmer’s mission to bring the UK and Europe together might depend on this. His ability to unite his party will be his first step to his greater mission.