Labour has won the general election by a landslide and will now form a government with a significant majority. But expectations will be high on the party and the new prime minister, Keir Starmer, to deliver on their manifesto promises.
In his victory speech, Starmer said that “change begins now” and that his government would introduce a period of “national renewal”. He will want to “set the tone” with some “eye-catching announcements” in the early days of its tenure, said The Guardian.
But how exactly will Starmer’s Labour change Britain and what will the new government do in its first days in office?
What did the commentators say?
While some “observers” will be “tempted” to say Labour’s victory is “a new dawn in British politics”, in reality its “challenges in government have only just begun”, said Time. It can “claim a base” of support that “spans north and south, urban and rural, deprived and affluent”, but “balancing” and “maintaining” that diverse support will be a “challenge”.
It is certain that Starmer will “take early action on several issues” to demonstrate the change he has insisted he will make, though it will be hard to make real improvements, said The Times.
The “immediate policy priorities” will include the Rwanda deportation scheme, which will be “axed” straight away and replaced with a “border security command”, said The Telegraph. The prime minister will also “kickstart reforms to the planning system” to try to “ramp up” housebuilding.
Labour’s “first priority”, said Sky News, will be to “deliver economic stability” as Britons continue to face the cost of living crisis. But new chancellor Rachel Reeves is likely to stick to the “strict fiscal rules” the outgoing government already had in place.
There will also be early efforts on “tackling anti-social behaviour” and attempting to “cut NHS waiting lists”, while the party is expected to quickly begin trying to recruit more teachers as part of its “reforms for education”.
However, many of the policies will still not be “developed enough for the civil service to act on immediately”, said Tom Belger in The Guardian. And while it will try to “sound like it means business” in its first 100 days, Labour will find it tough to find the balance “between promising to meet high public expectations of change” and “dampening” them because of the fiscal rules it has put in place.
What next?
The key to Starmer’s long-term success will be to fix the “chronic low productivity and raise the efficiency of the British state”, as well as maintaining “continued discipline and a mandate to pursue growth”, said The Economist. There is a chance he “concludes he should be cautious precisely when he should be bold” over fears of losing the support of his broad and diverse mandate, but Labour needs to stick to its “stated priority” of boosting productivity.
Conversely, the new prime minister would be “wise not to be complacent” about remaining in power for the long term, said Politico. Given overall vote share has remained relatively static for Labour, there are concerns that it is the “devastating capacity” of Reform UK to take votes from the Conservatives that has helped Starmer into No. 10.
If Starmer “fails to bring about the change and improve voters’ lives as he promises”, then it will raise the question of “who will Reform voters punish” in the next election?