In these troubled times, spare a thought for poor old Keir Starmer. Britain’s hapless Prime Minister can’t catch a break
Everyone – and everything – seems to be lining up against him. And events, at home and abroad, are unlikely to offer any respite.
Amongst voters, Starmer is the most unpopular PM in recent history – as will no doubt be seen in the upcoming May elections. The Labour leader and his party are on course to receive a drubbing in contests for the Scottish and Welsh devolved parliaments, and in local councils.
But it is not only the electorate who, rightly, despise Starmer. Nobody is happy with the current occupant of Number 10. Across the pond, Donald Trump is also fuming about the uselessness of his British counterpart.
Angered by the UK government’s refusal to join his disastrous war on Iran, the American President has repeatedly lashed out at Starmer: remarking that the Labour Prime Minister is “no Winston Churchill”, and threatening to tear up Britain’s trade deal with the USA, if Washington’s normally obedient poodle does not yield to his master’s call.
Of course, Starmer’s stance towards Trump’s war has nothing to do with political principles, and everything to do with political expediency.
The Labour leader has repeatedly demonstrated that he is happy to grovel and fawn before his boss in the White House. But with the British public in no mood for an Iraq 2.0, Zack Polanski’s Greens breathing down his neck, and elections approaching, Starmer is calculating that a few anti-Trump noises and a dash of feigned defiance might play well with voters and backbench MPs alike.
Militarism mania
Trump is not the only imperialist warmonger demanding more of Starmer, however. UK military chiefs are also denouncing the Labour leaders for their failure to rapidly rearm and reequip Britain’s depleted, dilapidated armed forces.
Amongst these is Lord George Robertson, a former secretary-general of NATO, who has accused Starmer’s government of displaying “corrosive complacency” in regards to defence spending, thereby putting the country “in peril”.
What Robertson and his ilk are saying, not so subtly, is that the government must cut welfare even harder to pay for warfare; that billions more must be squandered on bombs and bloodshed; that the needs of workers, the poor, and the vulnerable must be further sacrificed for the interests of British imperialism.
In other words, to appease Trump and these militarist maniacs, Starmer and co. would have to wage war on the working class. But as with the US President’s reckless attack on Iran, this is a conflict that the Labour leaders would be sure to lose. And therein lies the Prime Minister’s predicament.
Political paralysis
The same dilemma is playing out on the economic plane.
British capitalism is already in a dire state. And things are set to go from bad to worse as a result of the Iran war, with the UK economy predicted to be hit harder than other advanced capitalist countries in terms of the conflict’s impact on growth and inflation.
For the working class, this means rising unemployment and living costs are on the cards. For Starmer and his ministers, meanwhile, this means greater strains on the public finances, as tax revenue falls and the welfare bill swells – particularly if the government introduces energy subsidies to soften the blow of soaring bills.
This, in turn, is making Britain’s bond holders – the bankers and billionaires who buy up the country’s debt and lend to the government – increasingly jittery. And they are demanding deeper cuts from the Labour leaders in order to soothe their nerves.
But again, this is where short-term political interests clash with the capitalists’ class interests.
Starmer’s party is haemorrhaging votes, particularly towards the Greens on its left. And Labour MPs know, in this respect, that passing further austerity measures would be akin to asking turkeys to vote for Christmas.
Hence the present paralysis in Parliament. Starmer cannot push through the cuts that British capitalism needs to stay above the water. At the same time, the ruling class has no better option when it comes to a champion who can carry out their agenda.
Labour MPs, meanwhile, are afraid of defenestrating their leader, lest this open up a Pandora’s Box of political and economic pandemonium.
And so the beleaguered Prime Minister battles on…for now.
Spectre of Epstein
Everyone can see that Starmer is a dead-man walking, however. And eventually something or someone will deliver the PM a killer blow.
Amongst the many spectres haunting Starmer is that of Jeffrey Epstein. The billionaire sex offender had ties to almost every part of the international elites and the British establishment. This included Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, the disgraced former prince, and Peter Mandelson, the Blairite former peer and ex-ambassador to the US.
The Prime Minister is now facing renewed heat – including calls for his resignation – over revelations that Mandelson was appointed to his diplomatic role by Downing Street despite failing official security checks. And further digging could bring up even more explosive findings and damaging information.
Regardless of exactly who knew what and when, this scandalous saga will only reinforce the widespread view amongst ordinary people that Parliament is stuffed full of corrupt cretins – further eroding the public’s trust in the rotten establishment and its institutions.
As ‘Your Party’ MP Zarah Sultana asserted, grilling Starmer in the House of Commons: “The Prime Minister is a barefaced liar.” Just like every other capitalist politician, we would add.
@zarahsultanamp Keir Starmer is a barefaced liar and if he had any decency, he would resign. #ukpolitics ♬ original sound – Zarah Sultana MP
Labour wipeout
If the Epstein-Mandelson affair doesn’t end Starmer’s premiership, the elections on 7 May could do instead.
In England, in local council contests, Farage’s Reform and Polanski’s Greens are set to deliver Labour and the Tories a bloody nose. In Scotland and Wales, meanwhile, the SNP and Plaid are likely to strengthen their positions in Holyrood and the Senedd, respectively.
Such an outcome would represent a further rejection of the political establishment and the status quo, and another nail in the coffin for Britain’s two-party electoral system.
Whether these elections lead to Starmer’s demise remains to be seen, however.
On the one hand, the results are sure to be a humiliation for Labour, and a warning of the wipeout that the party and its representatives can expect to see come the next general election.
‼️Projected result for local elections:
➡️ Ref: 1,515 (+1,437)
🟢 Grn: 1,096 (+926)
🟠 Lib: 990 (+327)
🔵 Con: 507 (-627)
🔴 Lab: 458 (-1,738)
⚪️ Oth: 448 (-325)Median estimate via @Moreincommon_, April ’26 pic.twitter.com/SBR3s3hFwQ
— Stats for Lefties 🍉🏳️⚧️ (@LeftieStats) April 21, 2026
On the other hand, backbench Labour MPs may well balk at the prospect of making a move against their leader, fearful of the immediate instability this could provoke.
“Some kind of messy, bloody internal [leadership] contest is not going to help us,” remarked deputy Labour leader Lucy Powell, warning her colleagues of the potential consequences of removing their much-loathed chief.
Diktats of capital
For the time being, potential successors to Starmer seem content biding their time and giving the Labour leader the rope to hang himself.
Furthermore, figures like Angela Rayner and Andy Burnham are above all careerists and opportunists. And they can no doubt see that the position of UK premier is a poisoned chalice.
Indeed, the disasters, dramas, and difficulties mounting around Starmer have little to do with his personal qualities, or lack thereof, and everything to do with the insoluble crisis of British – and world – capitalism.
Whoever sits in Number 10 will face the same problems and pressures: whether it be Burnham, Farage, or Polanski. Within the confines of capitalism, it is ultimately the billionaires and bankers who decide.
“The bondholders are the ones really in charge,” states one CEO bluntly, speaking to the Financial Times about the economic options available to any prospective PM. “There isn’t flexibility there. They could destroy the country.”
Or as another fund manager put it: “There is a general understanding that you can’t mess with the bond market.”
Government of crisis
Farage and his gang of Tory rejects, a.k.a. Reform UK, are seemingly conscious of this cold reality, as evidenced by their attempts in recent months to moderate their programme and appeal to big business.
Reform’s attempts to lower expectations and earn the trust of the capitalist establishment, however, have led to a noticeable drop in the polls. And any remaining support they have could quickly evaporate once they’re in power, captaining the sinking ship of British capitalism.
As with Boris Johnson in 2019 or Starmer’s Labour in 2024, any future Farage government would have little-to-no honeymoon, but would be a government of crisis from day one.
This would be even more the case today for any governing party, given the deteriorating economic situation, combined with the narrow base of support that a fractured electoral landscape provides. Volatility is baked into British politics.
Revolution against the billionaires!
This should be a warning to Polanski and the Greens also, as they rise in the polls and prepare to take control of cash-strapped local councils.
Like those now flocking towards the Greens, we welcome the anti-austerity message coming from the party and its leaders. But questions remain unanswered. What is the economic alternative to cuts? Who is to pay for the crisis in society? How do we fund decent jobs, pay, and services?
Of course, the wealth for all this exists. But it sits in the bank accounts of the billionaires and bosses: the very same ladies and gentlemen who fuel war, with their insatiable appetite for profits; the very same class of capitalist elites who form the global Epstein regime.
That is why, unlike the milquetoast reformists, we call for a revolution to expropriate the super-rich; to kick out all the warmongers in Westminster and Washington; and to overthrow capitalism and imperialism, in Britain and internationally.
So join the communists today, and get organised in the fight for a revolutionary future.
