When the Labour Party returned to government in July 2024 with a commanding 172-seat majority, the mood among its supporters was one of jubilation. After 14 tumultuous years of Conservative rule marked by austerity, Brexit chaos, social division, and political scandal, the British public had handed Keir Starmer a decisive mandate. There was genuine hope that this would mark a new dawn-a government rooted in competence, fairness, and progressive reform. But one year on, the sense of anticipation has dulled into a tentative wait-and-see. Many voters now ask whether Labour is merely managing the decline they were elected to reverse.

Starmer’s government did not inherit an enviable set of circumstances. The economic legacy of the Conservatives-crippling public debt, crumbling infrastructure, underfunded public services, and the unresolved consequences of Brexit-would challenge any administration. But instead of confronting these problems with boldness and vision, Labour has adopted a cautious, technocratic approach. In its first year, the government has often seemed more focused on avoiding controversy than on building momentum for transformative change.

That hesitancy is perhaps best symbolized by the recent rebellion within the party over proposed benefit cuts. On the eve of its first anniversary in office, Labour’s leadership narrowly avoided a humiliating defeat in the House of Commons thanks to eleventh-hour concessions. The proposed cuts struck many as antithetical to Labour’s core values, and the revolt among backbenchers revealed simmering tensions within the party’s ideological spectrum. To the public, it reinforced the perception that Labour may not be the force for social justice it promised to be.

Still, the government’s defenders point to the state of the public........

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