The year 2024 will be a historical one for the Labour Party, as it navigated a complex political landscape marked by electoral challenges, policy pivots, and efforts to consolidate its position as a viable alternative to the Conservative Government. Without doubt, and despite setbacks, the Labour Party will be pleased with a year that returned them to Government, with a landslide victory in July 2024.
The General Election: Labour are Back in Town
The defining political event of 2024 was undoubtedly the general election. Off the back of years of Conservative rule and increasing public dissatisfaction with issues such as the cost-of-living crisis, NHS backlogs, and Brexit-related trade challenges, Labour entered the race with a palpable sense of momentum. Labour, sensing public dissatisfaction and a hugely unpopular Government, built their campaign strategy on three core pillars:
- Economic Renewal: Labour focused on tackling inequality, promoting renewable energy, and most importantly, alleviating the Cost-of-Living Crisis. Whilst they faced challenges in clearly defining their fiscal policies (a number of academics and scrutineers questioned whether promises to spend more matched pledged tax rises), the economic mismanagement of the Conservatives allowed them to sail to victory.
- Public Services: The party’s manifesto included ambitious plans for the NHS, with commitments to reduce waiting times and recruit new doctors and nurses annually. Whilst the NHS stood at the centre stage, other commitments touched on public services from education to crime and justice, each with separate pledges to repair broken public services.
- Trust in Leadership: Perhaps most importantly, Keir Starmer sought to portray Labour as a pragmatic and reliable alternative to what he framed as years of Conservative mismanagement. On one hand, this meant promoting unity within the party, in particular denouncing the former Corbynite factions of the party, but it also meant highlighting the failures of former Conservative Prime Ministers: Johnson with Partygate and Truss with the mini-budget.
The result? Labour made significant gains, capturing a number of marginal seats in the UK and securing an outright majority of 156 seats. This marked Labour’s first return to power since 2010, and whilst this will be welcome news for Labour supporters, the months following the election faced challenges.
From Rhetoric to Action: A Labour Party in Disarray
With a majority secured, Labour’s next challenge was delivering on its campaign promises. The first 100 days of the Starmer administration saw a flurry of legislative activity aimed at demonstrating competence and commitment to change, but also faced a number of scandals that risked distracting from policy plans, and new emergencies that led to a perspective of a troubled government
One of the priorities of the new Government was (and will continue) to be economic growth and management. Even with the public appreciating the difficult position the Government found itself in, a number of policies led to controversy. Means-testing winter fuel payments, decreasing tax incentives for farmers, and increasing national insurance contributions from companies, all led to public backlash.
Not only in the finances, but in public sector services themselves, a number of difficulties persisted. With a lack of prison spaces available, criminals were set free ahead of their sentences being finished, with some of these being violent criminals. Far-right mobs and riots engulfed areas following misinformation on the identity of the suspect involved in the July Southport Murders of three young girls, and despite rhetoric and pledges, many of the Labour Party’s solutions require systemic change, and therefore time: none of which would help falling poll ratings.
Internal Dynamics: Maintaining Unity and Dealing with Scandals
Beyond policy, the Labour Party’s Pre-Election unity started cracking too. Within a handful of weeks of the General Election, the House of Commons sat to consider an amendment from the Scottish National Party, to scrap the two-child benefit cap. The 7 labour MPs who voted in support of the amendment quickly found themselves suspended by the party.
Other scandals and rumours began surrounding the party’s highest levels of decision-making. Now-former Chief of Staff to the PM, Sue Gray, faced rumours of her not working well with head of the Civil Service, Simon Case. Both eventually resigned their posts, with Gray now being likely to join the House of Lords. Another leading Labour financier, Lord Alli, faced controversy for his donations to the Labour Party, and subsequent receipt of a coveted No.10 pass (granting him access to No.10 and other important locations).
Some Success on the International Stage
But despite difficulties on the domestic front, on the international front, Labour’s foreign policy reflected a blend of continuity and change that has generally been welcomed. On the EU, a number of meetings have led to positive outcomes, on defence, on immigration and in other key policy areas. By carefully towing the line between the pro-EU Labour membership, and pro-Brexit swing voters that Labour need for electoral successes, the Government has been able to begin improving EU relations.
In Ukraine, the new Labour Government have continued to be supportive of Ukraine. In the face of political uncertainty and instability in other leading western countries (namely the USA, France and Germany), the UK’s continued support of Ukraine has put Starmer as the face of European support of Zelenskyy, with security deals including that signed between the UK and Romania in November.
In the middle east, an ongoing battlefield filled with military and political fragilities has been navigated well by Starmer. Continued opposition to terrorist groups Hamas and Hezbollah, with a more pronounced critique of Israeli activity in Lebanon and Gaza has meant that Labour can now fight on two fronts: activists who criticise the lack of focus on terrorist organisations in the Middle East, and others who criticise the Israeli’s military actions. Of course, with uncertainty in Syria, perhaps this delicate political positioning from Labour will change soon.
Final Thought
The 2024 General Election has dominated the news cycles for Labour – it is hard to even remember any news involving the Party from before July! Whilst Labour may be happy with having secured its place in Government (and Starmer taking a deserved break over the Christmas period), 2025 will not be a time of relaxation after a tough year. The opposite, in fact, may be true.
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