Challenges lie ahead for Keir Starmer

Labor made a snap election on Thursday and secured at least 412 of the 650 seats in the House of Commons. This marks the end of 14 years of Conservative governments in Great Britain.

The long period of Conservative rule has left its mark on Britain, and the challenges lie ahead for Starmer. The country’s economy is in dire straits, and public services are at a standstill.

Many have wondered what the apparently reliable and boring Starmer really stands for, but the Labor leader has made some promises.

Endless health queues

Perhaps the biggest challenge is the almost endless queues in the British NHS healthcare system. 7.5 million Britons are on the health care queue, while the sector is characterized by strikes and labor shortages.

Labor and Starmer have promised to remedy the problem with higher pay for evening and weekend work, as well as using available capacity in private health services. Specifically, Starmer has also promised that he will increase capacity in the healthcare system by 40,000 new patient hours a week.

Immigration is another political issue in Britain. More and more refugees are taking the chance to cross the English Channel in frail craft. First, Starmer has promised to scrap the Conservatives’ controversial plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda.

He also wants special investigators to crack down on human traffickers, and faster processing of asylum applications – without it being clear exactly how the latter will be resolved.

During the election campaign, Rishi Sunak repeatedly accused Labor of wanting to raise taxes on ordinary people. Starmer has denied this, but has been clear that he wants to increase taxes for private schools.

When it comes to climate and environment, Starmer has also promised not to open new oil and gas projects in the North Sea. He also wants to create a new state-owned company to make the UK energy independent – particularly from Russia – and meet climate targets.

“A bunch of problems”

At the same time, Starmer has said that they will follow the same tight economic guidelines as the Conservatives in order to control price growth and national debt.

Political scientist Karl Pike calls Starmer’s challenges “a giant pile of problems”.

– Even the more simple and straightforward promises can prove to be very difficult to implement, says former Labor adviser Patrick Diamond to AFP. He particularly emphasizes the poor economy and widespread contempt for politicians.

Diamond believes that Labor has deliberately given its top priorities vague wording, so that it will be possible to implement them.

– I think the biggest challenges for Labor will be dealing with growing crises in completely different public sectors than health and education, for example the prison system, higher education and local services, says Diamond.

Crisis list

Starmer’s close associate Sue Gray is said to have drawn up a list of the biggest crises the new government might face. The list includes bankruptcies at both local authorities and universities, as well as overcrowded prisons.

Starmer’s first full working week will be characterized by foreign policy. As early as 9 July, Starmer will travel to Washington to attend the NATO summit. Starmer has also made it a top priority to negotiate a new trade agreement with the EU.

Diamond still believes that Starmer and his team can gain some goodwill at the start, precisely because most people are so fed up with the Conservatives.

– If Starmer can put an end to all the drama and create stability, people will give them the benefit of the doubt, he says.