Labor needs to fight ‘growing sense of despair’

Sunday 26 October 2025 11:17

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The British public is frustrated with the way the country is being run and Labor must show it can deliver, says Wes Streeting.

The British public is frustrated with the way the country is being run and Labor must show it can deliver, says Wes Streeting.

The Cabinet minister said Sir Keir Starmer’s government had not told a “compelling enough story” about its achievements, and he admitted the public had not felt the changes they voted for at the general election.

His comments came after the party was humiliated in a Senedd by-election in Caerphilly, a town that has been a Labor Party home for more than 100 years.

Mr Streeting compared Labour’s third place in Caerphilly with the 2021 Hartlepool by-election, which saw Sir Keir consider stepping down as party leader.

He told the Sunday Times that Sir Keir “not only took the result lightly, he took it to heart” and used it to speed up reform of the opposition Labor Party.

“We have to take the message from Caerphilly not just at face value, we have to take it to heart – and we have to change the way the Labor government drives change and implements it in the same way as we did in opposition after Hartlepool,” Mr Streeting said.

Sir Keir has faced an agonizing week, with chaos in the grooming gangs investigation, the return of a dinghy migrant sent to France under a one-in, one-out deal, a major blunder that saw Hadush Kebatu released from prison, and the defeat of Caerphilly as Labor finished third behind Plaid Cymru and Reform UK.

Mr Streeting told Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips on Sky News: “There is deep disillusionment in this country at the moment and, I think, a growing sense of desperation about whether anyone is capable of changing the state of this country.

“Now, I’m a political optimist. I think there are opportunities for recovery in the NHS, in the economy, in our public services, but there is still a lot to do, and we have to meet those challenges with a level of energy and focus that matches the scale of the challenges that exist.”

He emphasized that Sir Keir understands the magnitude of the challenges facing the Government.

“I think part of our frustration is how many good things the Labor Government has done in our first 15 months. I don’t think the public has felt the change,” continued Mr Streeting.

“If I had one criticism of us collectively as a team, it would be that we didn’t tell a compelling enough story about who we are, who we are for and what we want to do.”

He added that at the next general election, Labor must show “how things have improved, and we want people to feel that change”.

It was a lesson “from what happened on Thursday and some of the not-so-good election results since we came in,” he said.

On Saturday, newly elected Labor deputy leader Lucy Powell called on Sir Keir to be bolder and show “whose side we are on”.

Ms Powell, who was sacked from the Prime Minister’s Cabinet last month, said Sir Keir’s Government must show “a stronger sense of purpose”.

He warned against Labor turning to the far right to counter the threat posed by Nigel Farage, and warned “we cannot beat Reform.”

Ms Powell’s election could pose problems for Sir Keir as Ms Powell would be free to speak out against his government’s policies from the bench rather than being bound by collective responsibility like her rival in the deputy leadership, Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson.

The new deputy leader said: “We must offer hope, to offer the big changes this country is crying out for.

“We must provide a stronger understanding of our purpose, which side we are on, and of the values ​​and beliefs of the Labor Party.”

He said that “people feel that the Government is not bold enough to deliver the changes we promised”.

By David Hughes, PA Political Editor