Keir Starmer’s statecraft

A critical appraisal of Labour in power

Bibliographic Data

ID21787461
AuthorsPatrick Diamond (0000-0002-0653-8499, Queen Mary University of London, corresponding author), Christopher Byrne (0000-0003-2390-7126, University of Nottingham), Sam Warner (0000-0002-6497-3755, University of Bristol)
Year2026
Volume21
Issue1
Publication date2026-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueBritish Politics (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1746-918X • E-ISSN: 1746-9198
PublisherSpringer Science and Business Media LLC (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1057/s41293-026-00307-x
OpenAlexW7167281612
LanguageEN
References cited63

This article provides a critical appraisal of the Starmer government’s first two years in power and an overview of its policy agenda and political decision-making during this period. Our analysis is underpinned by the influential statecraft framework first set out by Jim Bulpitt. We make the following arguments. First, despite entering office with a landslide electoral victory, the new Labour government was ill-prepared for office, contributing to the absence of a clear political vision and effectively narrated policy agenda. Second, the absence of a clearly understood vision for the UK’s political economy has paved the way for ad hoc decision-making that has repeatedly undermined the Starmer government’s credibility

Comparative politics · Critical appraisal · Government (linguistics) · International political economy · Political philosophy · Politics · Power (physics) · Housing, Finance, and Neoliberalism · Political and Economic history of UK and US · Social Policy and Reform Studies

Tools

Open DOIOpen Access