Where’s Keir? PM barely features in Labour party election broadcasts for the locals

Keir Starmer is notably absent from two recent Labour party election broadcasts for this year’s local elections, as the Prime Minister faces gloomy personal approval ratings.

At the time of writing two adverts from the Labour Party had been broadcast  in the election campaign, one prominently featuring Angela Rayner and the other, focused on the health service, featuring a retired nurse and an NHS patient.

However, in contrast to the general election campaign, which saw him walking through the Lake District with football icon Gary Neville, or even last year’s local elections which saw the Labour leader reflect on his working class background, neither broadcast features remarks from Keir Starmer.

It comes amid disappointing personal ratings for the Prime Minister, with a recent YouGov poll giving him an approval rating of -33 and LabourList’s recent poll with Survation putting his favourability at -13 among Labour members.

Scroll to keep reading the story below….

Starmer only features briefly in muted clips from the general election campaign in the broadcast with the Deputy Prime Minister.

In that advert, Rayner said that the government has been “delivering security for working people and renewal for our country”.

“It’s no secret that I was born on a council estate. It’s no secret because I’m proud of where I came from.

“And I’m proud now to be working alongside our Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, to deliver the change our country needs.

“We’re turning the page on 14 years of chaos and decline, and we’re just getting started.”

With the slogan “Bring change to Britain”, Rayner seemed to set the party’s expectations low by calling on voters to “make sure that Conservative councils… are held to account.”

By contrast, when Labour began a fundraising drive for this year’s local elections last August, an email from the party said: “We need to put as much red on this map as possible – we need Labour councils working with this Labour government to deliver change as effectively as possible.”

Only one other party has not had an appearance from their leader in their election broadcasts so far, with Kemi Badenoch not even being mentioned in television adverts by the Conservative Party.

The Labour Party was approached for comment.

For more from LabourList, subscribe to our daily newsletter roundup of all things Labour – and follow us on  Bluesky, WhatsApp, Threads, X or Facebook .

• SHARE: If you have anything to share that we should be looking into or publishing about this story – or any other topic involving Labour– 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 chip in a few pounds a week and become one of our supporters, helping sustain and expand our coverage.
• PARTNER: If you or your organisation might be interested in partnering with us on sponsored events or projects, email [email protected].
• ADVERTISE: If your organisation would like to advertise or run sponsored pieces on LabourList‘s daily newsletter or website, contact our exclusive ad partners Total Politics at [email protected].