Starmer the class warrior? PM pivots focus towards ‘class divide’

After the government suffered its most difficult day in office in Monday, with the Prime Minister’s position looking at times perilous, Ed Miliband went on the broadcast round to proclaim that Keir Starmer would be focusing on the “class divide”.

Some in the press questioned whether Miliband had gone off-piste and strayed from the party line, but sure enough – at a visit to a community centre in Hertfordshire, a defiant Keir Starmer made his first public appearance since his leadership crisis and talked up his working class roots.

While pledging to “never walk away from the mandate I was given to change this country”, he stressed how he had appointed the “most working-class Cabinet” in history, spoke of how his family struggled to pay the bills when he was growing up and how his late brother spent his adult life “wandering from job to job in virtual poverty”.

He said: “This system, this political system, didn’t work for him and there are millions of people in the same boat, children in poverty, young people who don’t get the opportunities they deserve. Millions of people held back because of a system that doesn’t work for them, who are not given the dignity, the respect, the chance they deserve. I’m fighting for them. I am their Prime Minister, and this is their government and I will never give up on that fight.”

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Starmer’s comments marked perhaps the first time since the Kinnock era that class could play a explicit role in party direction. While New Labour made great strides in addressing poverty among the working class, not least with the child tax credit and the minimum wage, such radical policies were never couched in the terms of bridging the class divide. Even Miliband’s use of the “squeezed middle” during his time as leader shied away from speaking about class outright.

With his sleeves rolled up, the Prime Minister had a renewed drive and determination – with some asking whether his focus on class might indicate a leftward pivot in policy around the cost of living. An embrace of a more vocal economic liberalism is something that would likely have cross-party support, from the Socialist Campaign Group to Blue Labour.

Any shift on that front remains to be seen, but many MPs, particularly the 100-strong Tribune group, will be hoping that Starmer’s comments yesterday are more than just words and will translate into actions. Tribune, for its part, called for a reset in economic policy and has gone as far as to suggest that a shake-up of the Cabinet may be needed to “reflect the breadth of views across the PLP”.

At times on Monday, it felt like Starmer’s remaining time in office could be measured in hours. If he is serious about staying the course, the only option available to him is to deliver on the real reset MPs are calling out for.

Perhaps yesterday’s speech was the first sign of things to come.

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