Sir Keir Starmer’s emotional resignation speech sparked a mixed reaction from Independent readers, with many feeling sympathy for a prime minister they believed tried to do the right thing, even if his government ultimately fell short.
Several commenters said Starmer deserves credit for rebuilding Labour, defeating the Conservatives in 2024 and bringing a measure of stability after years of political chaos. But even some supporters felt he never managed to connect with voters or convince them that his government was delivering results.
Others argued his downfall was always coming. Many blamed a lack of vision, conviction and political judgement, saying he spent too much time trying to please different groups without offering a clear direction for the country.
Readers pointed to the winter fuel allowance row, welfare reforms, immigration, Brexit, donations and the Mandelson scandal among the key reasons his authority unravelled.
A common complaint was that Starmer never developed the public appeal needed to carry people with him through difficult decisions. Several argued that his reserved, technocratic style made it hard for voters to warm to him.
Here’s what you had to say:
Any new PM must solve immigration issues
As a person who strongly supports immigration because of the undeniable benefits it brings, I have to accept that the majority of the electorate does not want large-scale immigration. The majority of immigrants come into the country legally, yet it is the sight of the few who come in illegally that captures the attention of much of the electorate, mainly Reform, Tory and a substantial chunk of Labour (Red Wall) supporters.
So, for any PM (especially a Labour one) to stay in power, their first task should be to deter boat crossings and demonstrate to those voters that the issue has stopped or is under control, and really do whatever it takes to stop it. Legal immigration must also be reduced to bring in only those who create jobs or do jobs that natives cannot do (not jobs they do not want to do). Bringing in carers, cleaners and fruit pickers should be stopped.
What is going to happen, of course, is that we are then going to get complaints from the above electorate about how their parents have no carers, how there is no one to pick fruit, and how employers cannot get workers. The government can resolve this by getting stricter with those on benefits. Sometimes you have to feel the pain to understand what is good or not good for you.
A leader needs personality
People are horrible about Starmer, but I feel that is undeserved. While I am pleased he has resigned, I do not think he is a bad man. He thought he was doing the best for our country and, in some ways, he has had some success after the Tories’ absolute shambles.
Unfortunately, we live in a time where a leader needs personality and not just a safe pair of hands maintaining the status quo. We need conviction and action. Burnham has a month or two at most to stamp his authority on the country. He needs to show people real change, and quickly. Be radical, use the majority Labour have and change things. If he does not, then the country is doomed to continuous decline and political chaos, and Reform will take huge numbers of seats at the next election.
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A legacy of U-turns and missed opportunities
Starmer is a decent chap, but he was never going to be a leader. His head is entrenched in human rights; he would defend illegal immigrants before entering politics and that has never left him.
His legacy will be constant U-turns, the biggest increase in illegal immigration ever, the biggest tax hikes for working people to pay for those who will not work, and “Farmer Harmer”.
He was weakest on defence spending despite cross-party recommendations. He squandered the biggest majority for a hundred years in record time. We are now politically paralysed until September with two major wars blazing.
Mr Burnham must reappoint John Healey quickly and back him to the hilt on defence spending.
He should have gone earlier
Starmer should have gone over the Mandelson scandal.
In his speech, he made two achievement claims that were not his. Firstly, taking thousands of kids out of poverty. The party did that; Starmer was forced into scrapping the two-child cap against his wishes. The other was bringing down net immigration. That happened almost entirely because of Sunak’s changes to visa rules before Labour were even in power.
He still has a role to play
Not everyone can be a prime minister, but that does not mean Starmer is a bad man or a useless one. He won a landslide for Labour. Without that there would have been no Burnham, and we would all be far, far worse off than we are now, with a cabal of loonies, clowns and billionaires in charge of the country.
I feel sorry for Starmer and I believe that he should still play a part in government, especially on foreign affairs where he excels. Burnham had better be good because there will be no pity for the pretender who proves to be worse than the man he unseated.
His biggest mistakes in office
He did manage to kick out the inept, corrupt Tories in July 2024. Well done for this.
Shame he had to target pensioners with the winter fuel fiasco. It was a huge mistake. Another mistake was appointing Mandelson as ambassador to the US. Mandelson had been forced to resign from Blair’s government following financial scandals.
The worst mistake of all was not taking advantage of his huge parliamentary majority to offer a referendum on Brexit. By 2024, the majority of voters knew that leaving the EU was a disaster. He lacked the courage and vision to try to get a new, closer relationship with the EU. If not rejoining outright, we could have got back into the single market, which would have reduced the damage done to our economy.
He made Labour electable again
You know what? Starmer has a lot to be proud of. He did make Labour electable again. He did vanquish the Tories and has continued to make progress on key issues like NHS waiting lists, immigration and economic growth. Sadly, there have been errors as well (winter fuel allowance, PIP etc). The party has failed to effectively communicate its successes and his lack of connection with the “man on the Clapham omnibus” has ultimately led to his demise. But he was the right guy, at the right time, for the right purpose.
Too many things to too many people
He tried to be too many things to too many people and lacked any sort of conviction or vision for the country, which we sorely need.
He chose to manage Britain’s slow decline instead of offering radical ideas to reverse it, and always chose the most politically expedient option over anything that might upset the apple cart. It ultimately came back to bite him.
He alienated the left through too much acquiescence to the Israel lobby, too much brown-nosing of the orange commander-in-chief across the pond, and too much austerity and cuts to benefits.
He alienated the moderates and the right through too many authoritarian policies, i.e. sweeping anti-protest laws, digital ID, social media bans etc.
We need a leader who is happy to take a side, has a vision for the country, and is willing to embrace unpopular policies. You have to be willing to upset one half of the electorate to deliver for the other half. If you try to please both, you just end up as everyone’s enemy.
I hope his replacement remembers this lesson, though I fear Burnham will make the same mistakes.
The problems were not all his doing
I am not a Labour voter or Starmer fan, but really the mess the country is in is not down to him. Rather, it is down to 14 years of Tory misrule, their neglect of our services and huge spending.
Of course, a huge part of our economic malaise is down to the elephant in the room – the disastrous Brexit. Sadly, the right-wing establishment media have relentlessly attacked Starmer whilst promoting Farage and Reform, who, if elected, would smash services, sell the NHS, totally isolate us from our European allies and create a vacuum that only their wealthy backers would thrive in, at the expense of ordinary people.
Some of the comments have been edited for this article for brevity and clarity.
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