Sir Keir Starmer kicked off the new year with a promise to “fight for change” in 2025, following heavy criticism being levelled against his government.
The prime minister underlined that 2025 would be a “year of rebuilding” while also “rediscovering the great nation that we are”.
When entering government, Labour promised to make economic growth a priority.
However, its first budget came under fire, with some saying the Labour government is going too far – as others argued it hadn’t gone far enough. This has led to negative polling that could affect the party in future elections.
Those criticism were exacerbated in so small part by the donations scandal faced by Sir Keir.
Here’s a closer look at what Sir Keir and his government have done so far in office.
The first bill to be passed by the Commons under the Labour Government was the rail nationalisation bill.
This bill seeks to bring rail operators back under public control once their existing franchise contracts are over, or earlier if the contracts are breached.
Then transport secretary Louise Haigh went on to introduce a bill to set up a company called Great British Railways that would manage both the track and the trains service.
Some within and outside the party have questioned why the rolling stock is not also being brought under national control.
Keir Starmer and Labour’s economic policies
Rachel Reeves kicked off her tenure as chancellor by claiming the previous Conservative government had left the UK with a £22bn gap in the nation’s accounts.
While debt is often accumulated by governments, this unusually high amount was thought to be from the combined effect of higher-than-expected costs of housing asylum seekers and public sector pay deals.
To plug the gap, Ms Reeves halted funding for various projects, including the road tunnel bypassing Stonehenge and the A27 Arundel bypass.
Former prime minister Boris Johnson’s promise to build 40 new hospitals has also been placed on pause pending review, with Sir Keir Starmer alleging his predecessor made the promise without allocating the money.
In letters sent last week, Sir Keir, Ms Reeves and Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said they wanted to see “concrete proposals” from regulators setting out how they could “go further” to “prioritise growth”.
Regulators including the Financial Conduct Authority, Ofgem, Ofwat and the Competition and Markets Authority are among the bodies reported to have received the request.
In Labour’s first budget Ms Reeves announced £40 billion of tax rises, a £22.6 billion increase in the day-to-day health budget, and a £3.1 billion increase in the capital budget over this year and next year, as part of some £70 billion of additional public spending.
Those projects will mean the UK needs extra borrowing of more than £32 billion.
Labour’s focus on energy requires a familiar face
Ed Miliband returned to the Labour frontbench as energy secretary, a post he previously held 14 years ago.
On July 8, Mr Miliband announced he planned to remove the previous government’s de facto ban on onshore wind power.
That was followed closely by the national wealth fund, a £7.3 billion scheme designed to invest in green infrastructure such as clean steel and carbon capture.
Later the same month, Mr Miliband introduced a bill to set up Great British Energy, a nationally-owned energy company that will play a key role in the government’s net-zero strategy. The bill empowers the company to produce and distribute clean energy and channel funding into energy efficiency schemes.
The NHS and health were a major election talking point
The NHS is undoubtedly in crisis and was a major talking point during the last general election.
Labour Health Secretary Wes Streeting commissioned Ara Darzi, a former Labour minister, to outline the scale of the challenge facing Sir Keir and his government.
Lord Darzi’s report found evidence of long delays for hospital, GP and mental health services that were thought to account for thousands of unnecessary deaths. He went on to suggest a range of changes, preventative measures and more taxes on unhealthy items like tobacco.
