Prime minister Keir Starmer has had another bad week. While pretty much all of his weeks in power have gone badly, they haven’t all ended with a punchline. That’s because this week closed with the struggling Starmer declaring his intention to remain as prime minister for 10 years.
10 years!
The man hasn’t finished one year yet, and as things stand a majority of Britons hope that he doesn’t:
No PM in history has lost popularity as rapidly as Starmer has, and he wasn't popular to begin with. Again it's the *speed* of his fall in popularity. "Left" or "right", UK citizens are united on this. He causes us "feelings of distress, fear and shame". https://t.co/guIoiWZWl6
— Twiki 🍉 #together 🚜 (@timtron2020) January 17, 2025
Keir we go again
The biggest calamity for Starmer this week was also a welcome yet temporary reprieve for sick and disabled people. As Rachel Charlton-Dailey wrote for the Canary:
On Thursday 16 January, a high court judge ruled what disabled people already knew, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) had acted unlawfully in their controversial plans to reform the Work Capability Assessment (WCA). However, the DWP has also revealed that the Labour Party government is planning on going ahead with the WCA changes the Tories first tabled – but it will run another consultation, first.
Disabled activist and all-round legend Ellen Clifford took the DWP to court over a consultation which ran for just eight weeks in 2023. The department later used the evidence gathered from the consultation to make changes to the WCA, and who qualified as Limited Capability for Work Related Activity (LCWRA) – which are due to come into effect this year.
If they come in, the plans would see over 400,000 disabled people lose around £416 a month, something which could lead to countless deaths – this is on top of the god knows how many deaths the WCA has already caused.
The real sting in the tail to this story was how Starmer reacted to the court loss, with Starmer going out of his way to impress the rancid British tabloids, as the Sun gleefully reported:
Asked if he had the “stomach or the balls” to take on his squeamish MPs who have railed against benefits cuts for years, the PM insisted: “Yes. I love fights. I had to fight to get the leadership of the Labour Party, had to fight to win the election.”
Some like Raphael Dogg ridiculed the idea that Starmer is a ‘fighter’:
In fact, @Keir_Starmer never 'fought' for anything. Ran as an MP without having to wait the statutory 5 yrs, handed a safe seat and the most efficient CLP machine in the country, never fought a campaign, never championed an issue. His rise to leader was handled by the Labour https://t.co/AJHV41Dp6m
— Raphael Dogg (@raphaeldogg) January 18, 2025
While Starmer may be winning friends at the Sun – a newspaper which has been in decline for years – he’s not winning support from the electorate:
UK PM Keir Starmer: I’ve got the balls to take an axe to Britain’s benefits bill – we’ll be RUTHLESS with cuts if needed.
How brave of him to impoverish the old, sick, poor, disabled, public sector workers; not curbing profiteering, corporate tax abuses.https://t.co/ZDdo2uTUE5
— Prem Sikka (@premnsikka) January 17, 2025
Starmer says he has 'the balls' to cut benefits.
Yes, it takes a tough buy to make kids, the vulnerable and the disabled poorer.
Maybe the Oxted He-Man should try demonstrating his machismo to the super-rich instead. pic.twitter.com/GCVJtvi2jE
— Alan Gibbons (@mygibbo) January 18, 2025
Oh, and he’s also not really winning friends at the Sun:
Starmer’s war on sick and disabled people contrasted poorly with comments he made on Ukraine:
Is Starmer saying Britajn will give Ukraine £3 billion a year FOR A HUNDRED YEARS the most insane thing you’ve ever heard from a British politician?
I genuinely think it is.
Live now on @novaramedia
— Aaron Bastani (@AaronBastani) January 17, 2025
As many have pointed out, Starmer is happy to pledge unwavering support to an endless foreign conflict while simultaneously cutting DWP funds in his war against Britain’s disabled population:
Starmer told The S*n this in Ukraine, a country he recently promised $3 billion in “lethal aid” annually.
He is “ruthlessly” cutting welfare for the poorest while increasing taxpayer subsidies to weapons manufacturers.
We warned you who he was…multiple times https://t.co/cdm9XJWPd1
— Matt Kennard (@kennardmatt) January 17, 2025
And now for the punchline.
10-year Keir
Politico interviewed Starmer during his recent trip to Ukraine. Reportedly, Starmer told them:
“We are now, what, four and a half years before the next election,” Starmer said, sitting at a table for dinner in a traditional Ukrainian restaurant in Kyiv. “I remind myself that four and a half years ago, Boris Johnson was prime minister with very high ratings and most commentators were saying he’s going to be prime minister for the next 10 years. So I am a great believer in taking each step as it comes, facing each challenge as it comes, keeping my eye on the long term and not getting distracted by the noises off.”
We’re sure he does remind himself of that; we’re sure he reminds himself every day given the disastrous polling and openly-expressed disgust of the public. Just look:
🗳️ Reform moves into 2nd place in poll average:
🔴 LAB: 27% (-8)
🟣 REF: 24% (+9)
🔵 CON: 23% (-1)
🟠 LD: 12% (-1)
🟢 GRN: 9% (+2)+/- vs GE2024 pic.twitter.com/HfwH2etXrw
— Stats for Lefties 🍉🏳️⚧️ (@LeftieStats) January 15, 2025
‼️ NEW: Starmer's approval drops to new low (-40)
✅ Well: 24% (-2)
❌ Badly: 64% (+3)Via @YouGov, 13 Jan (+/- vs 16 Dec) pic.twitter.com/qI1fiPCPms
— Stats for Lefties 🍉🏳️⚧️ (@LeftieStats) January 14, 2025
‼️ NEW: 8 in 10 say UK economy is in a bad state, ratings which almost match those of LIZ TRUSS.
✅ Good state: 2% (-2)
❌ Bad state: 78% (+9)Via @YouGov, 14 Jan (+/- vs 31 Oct) pic.twitter.com/cll40H41De
— Stats for Lefties 🍉🏳️⚧️ (@LeftieStats) January 16, 2025
And as our favourite analyst on Twitter also pointed out:
I really cannot overstate that it is not normal for a third party with 5 MPs to overtake the **Prime Minister** in preferred leader polls just 7 months after a thumping landslide result https://t.co/K6XoY0pPyl
— Stats for Lefties 🍉🏳️⚧️ (@LeftieStats) January 18, 2025
And you know I tell the hard truth about polls. I said for two years that Starmer was going to win a crushing majority, even when lots on the left understandably didn't want to believe it. But I'm driven by the numbers and the facts. And these are *unprecedented* figures. Really.
— Stats for Lefties 🍉🏳️⚧️ (@LeftieStats) January 18, 2025
As James Foster rightly notes, Starmer became leader of the Labour Party by lying. He then became prime minister of the country by lying again:
No, no he didn’t. @Keir_Starmer lied to people: that’s what he did to get the leadership of the Labour Party. https://t.co/DufXcZ5mqJ
— James Foster (@JamesEFoster) January 17, 2025
The problem with lying to take power is that you can’t keep getting away with it. There are some who will happily eat up the lies; they’re just not doing a good job of making those lies palatable to anyone else:
STARMER IS THE PRIME MINISTER
Bleet all you like
TEN MORE YEARS https://t.co/8euQ0Gz2Fn pic.twitter.com/4tUdXeKCGZ
— PhilM (@PhilMyers53) September 27, 2024
Starmer doesn’t understand that while you can get away with telling people ‘I will deliver’; you can’t get away with delivering people shit once you’re in power. Not as a Labour politician, anyway.
He looks to Boris Johnson, but Johnson and his Tory Party had most of the media backing them up. Starmer has no one on his side except Keir Starmer and the soulless toadies in his cabinet – the least convincing people in the country.
Starmer-geddon
So, is it genuinely ridiculous for Starmer to think he can win another election? The short answer is ‘yes’; the long answer is ‘ha ha ha ha ha, yes’.
This is what it looks like when the PM walks around the UK right now:
Starmer taking a wee stroll amongst his people. https://t.co/SOPYFvoQdC
— Ragged Trousered Philanthropist (@alfienoakes63) January 18, 2025
And this is what the public is telling him:
🚨 For the first time since 2021, British voters now say that Starmer should RESIGN as Labour Leader.
✅ Remain leader: 36% (-5)
❌ Resign as leader: 40% (+9)Via @YouGov, 13 Jan (+/- vs 18 Nov) pic.twitter.com/oovsu0RNSJ
— Stats for Lefties 🍉🏳️⚧️ (@LeftieStats) January 14, 2025
Starmer is the worst leader the Labour Party has ever produced – a vacuous non-entity who exists solely to siphon money from public services to private bank accounts. We don’t know how long he’ll last as prime minister, but we do know there’ll be serious talk of him going if this year’s local elections go as badly as people are predicting.
Featured image via Keir Starmer
