Labour in power: What would happen on Keir Starmer’s first day in charge?

Poll after poll has pointed to Labour forming the next government following the general election this week. So what might the party’s first day in office look like if it does emerge victorious?

The Institute for Government (IfG) hosted a webinar this week about what is likely to happen on day one for a new government, setting out the potential agenda for Keir Starmer and his party if it comes into power.

The IfG’s Alex Thomas – a programme director leading the think tank’s work on the civil service and policymaking – told viewers that, if there is a change in Prime Minister, the new Prime Minister will go to Buckingham Palace on Friday to be officially appointed, and then head to Downing Street.

READ MORE: Sign up to our must-read daily briefing email on all things Labour

He said the Prime Minister will “probably” make a speech outside Downing Street, before being met at the door by the cabinet secretary and the Prime Minister’s principal private secretary, both senior civil servants. According to Thomas, the civil servants in No 10 will then line up to clap the Prime Minister.

Thomas said the Prime Minister will then likely sit down with the cabinet secretary and the principal private secretary for the civil servants to “start taking them through all the briefing and the work they’ve done”.

Thomas identified ministerial appointments as the first task facing any incoming Prime Minister, telling viewers: “They hopefully will have done a bit of planning about who they want to appoint.

“And so almost straight away, they’ll launch into appointing the cabinet, having meetings with the people who they want to appoint to big jobs, maybe disappointing some people.”

READ MORE: UK general election poll tracker: Daily roundup on how polls look for Labour

He also highlighted “the policy work and security work that the civil service has been working on”, saying: “One of the first things… that a Prime Minister does is sign these ‘letters of last resort’, the instructions to the captains of the nuclear submarines about what would happen if, God forbid, we’re not here anymore.”

Thomas said a day-one briefing from the cabinet secretary would cover the contents of the election manifesto, “saying we’ve read your manifesto, here are the sorts of decisions that we think you might want to start taking to enact that manifesto”.

He added: “I think for Labour there will be a discussion about what mission-driven government actually means and how the civil service can start to implement that.

“The civil service will also have the kind of less pleasant job of saying: ‘Here are all the impossible problems that have been stored up over the general election campaign.'”

READ MORE: Labour ‘virtually certain’ to win more seats than 1997 landslide, new MRP finds

He also noted: “Really important not to forget, for the Prime Minister, is this is a bizarre and extraordinary thing that we’re asking them to do, and it’s an enormous upheaval for their personal life.

“So they will also be making decisions about where they want to live, how they want to use Downing Street, being briefed on their own personal security, where their kids and how their kids might get to school.”

On the likely timeline for cabinet appointments, Thomas said: “If they win and if it’s a majority government… I would expect it to happen pretty quickly.

“So let’s say lunchtime on Friday when the previous Prime Minister’s resigned and Keir Starmer’s gone to the palace and gone into Downing Street, you would expect it to be pretty quick through the course of Friday afternoon to have probably most or even all of the cabinet by the end of Friday.”

READ MORE: ‘What would happen during the first 100 days of a Labour government?’

He continued: “Our expectation is that there will be a fair amount of stability from the shadow team to the ministerial appointments. So again, that would help speed it up. Equally, there may be, if a shadow minister loses their seat, then that will present the Prime Minister with a question about who they want to appoint.

“There’s also just a little thing – and we’re all in favour of stability and I think it is really good if shadow ministers can be appointed to their briefs – but this will be the moment of the Prime Minister’s maximum power.

“So if there are any really kind of big changes that they might want to make, and actually if they’ve come in with a big majority, then that is the moment when a Prime Minister might decide to do something radical. I’m not expecting that on Friday, but you never know.”

Read more of our 2024 general election coverage:

North East Somerset and Hanham: Can Labour mayor Dan Norris consign Jacob Rees-Mogg to history?

Finchley and Golders Green: Can Labour win back Britain’s most Jewish seat?

Small boats and Tory mutineers: Can veteran Mike Tapp win Dover and Deal?

East Thanet: Inside the battle for coastal ex-UKIP stronghold not won since 2005

Sheffield Hallam: ‘Can Labour’s Olivia Blake hold on in Nick Clegg’s old seat?’

Battle of the bar charts in Wimbledon: Inside a rare election three-horse race

Could Labour take ‘non-battleground’ Tory seats across the South West?

Meet NHS doctor Zubir Ahmed, fighting one of Scotland’s tightest marginals

Brighton Pavilion: As Starmer visits, can Labour win the Greens’ one seat?

Labour wants a new generation of new towns. Can it win in Milton Keynes?

Meet Gordon McKee, the 29-year-old son of a welder vying for Glasgow South

Revealed: The battlegrounds attracting most activists as 17,000 sign up

SHARE: If you have anything to share that we should be looking into or publishing about this story – or any other topic involving Labour or the election – contact us (strictly anonymously if you wish) at [email protected]. 

SUBSCRIBE: Sign up to LabourList’s morning email here for the best briefing on everything Labour, every weekday morning. 

DONATE: If you value our work, please donate to become one of our supporters here and help sustain and expand our coverage.

PARTNER: If you or your organisation might be interested in partnering with us on sponsored events or content, email [email protected].