For the prime minister, it's been 100 days he might in many ways want to forget. By pretty much any measure, it's been a disappointing start. From opinion polls to party management to the operation of Number 10, Sir Keir has been in difficulty.

Sir Keir Starmer is marking his first 100 days in office. When his press spokesperson was asked ahead of the big day if the prime minister thought it had been a successful start, he simply said: “It’s up to the public to decide that.”

The verdict is in, and it isn’t good: Sir Keir’s approval poll ratings last week fell to -33 - a drop of 44 points since his post-election high, while one poll put Labour just one point ahead of the Tories.

A poll out this weekend by YouGov finds nearly half of those who voted Labour in the last general election feel let down so far, while six in 10 disapprove of the government’s record so far, against one in six who approve of the Starmer government.

Sir Keir will no doubt say it’s not about the first 100 days, it’s about the “next decade of national renewal”. And perhaps he has a point. How can you foretell the fortunes of a political leader from 100 days?

The great late Alistair Cooke in one of his Letter from America dispatches said making a big deal out of the first 100 days was a “foolish custom”.

  • FarceOfWill@infosec.pub
    151·
    23 days ago

    There’s an idea in management that when you join a new role as a manager you shouldn’t do anything except listen and learn for 100 days as you won’t understand what you’re doing.

    This doesn’t apply to a country of course, though it may to some individual ministers in odd departments, but I do think it’s an interesting idea to keep in mind. Sometimes immediate action is the exact wrong thing to do.