A Tory frontbencher has claimed Keir Starmer has had the “worst start for any government in history” – including Liz Truss.
The prime minister tried to relaunch his premiership this week with a “plan for change” after a bumpy first five months in office.
Starmer has lurched from crisis to crisis after a series of unpopular policy choices – like the unexpected National Insurance hike for businesses – and controversies around his staff – such as his transport secretary Louise Haigh’s sudden resignation.
His net approval rating now languishes at -38 points, down from +11 when he was elected in July.
Kevin Hollinrake, the shadow levelling up, housing and communities secretary, told BBC Question Time audience on Thursday: “I do not take any pleasure in the fact that this has been the worst start for any government in history.”
Presenter Fiona Bruce cut in: “Worse than Liz Truss’s?”
Truss was kicked out of No.10 after just 49 days as her £45bn of unfunded tax cuts sent the markets into chaos and the pound into decline.
There was a short pause and some laughter in the room, until Hollinrake replied: “I think it has been worse than Liz Truss’s.”
“Really?” Bruce asked.
He said: “It’s just not about the economy, it’s right across the piste. Look, I don’t defend Liz Truss, I didn’t back her in the first place –”
Bruce cut in: “Sounds like you are!”
“I’m absolutely not, and we deserved to lose the last election,” Hollirake replied.
“This is not about politicking, it’s bad for the country it’s bad for the people here, it’s bad for my constituents, and the decline in business confidence more than anything.”
Alluding to Labour’s decision to increase National Insurance for employers in the October Budget, the shadow minister said: “You don’t tell business people, ‘It’s all terrible, it’s all gloom and doom,’ – even though it wasn’t – and then there’s going to be some huge tax rises coming down the road, even when you said it was all fully funded and fully costed all of those things.”
He said people at home would not be “convinced at all” that Starmer is now doing some kind of reset.