LIVERPOOL—The United Kingdom’s ruling Labour Party converged on Liverpool for its annual conference last week, three months after its landslide election victory that swept Keir Starmer and his government into office after fourteen years out of power. Yet the mood of the gathering of activists, representatives, and ministers was far from celebratory. The economic and political hole the United Kingdom finds itself in—and the dire international situation in the Middle East and Ukraine—cast a serious shadow over the four-day event.
For Starmer, this was an opportunity to set out his plans after a bumpy start to his premiership, during which he has had to deal with violent street riots in the summer over immigration, hostile media stories about his acceptance of gifts and donations from wealthy supporters, and reports of infighting among key aides. But more fundamental both to the country’s future and to his government’s prospects is the overriding task of stabilizing the United Kingdom’s public finances and finding a route back to growth after a decade of economic sclerosis. Without this, his promises to boost Britain’s ailing health service, transition to clean energy, and accelerate affordable housebuilding will ring hollow.
In his keynote speech to the conference, the new prime minister said there were no “easy answers” to fixing the economy and stressed that clearing up what he has described as the “rubble and ruin” he inherited from the previous Conse.