Why Keir Starmer Isn’t Leading and Why Politics Feels Broken

In this first episode of The State of Politics, I break down why British politics feels stuck and why leaders like Keir Starmer are failing to lead. He has a 150 seat majority. He could reshape public services, reform the NHS, overhaul the way government works. But he’s not. And I believe it’s because he lacks conviction, not power.

I talk about how government would collapse if it were a business. It is bloated, inefficient, and full of career civil servants who have never worked in the real world. Bureaucracy rules everything. Ten people are paid to do what one person could manage. That’s not a political attack. It’s an operational failure.

I share my own experience running for local council and seeing first-hand how the system blocks new ideas. Anyone who tries to fix it gets chewed up by the process.

I also compare Starmer to past and present figures like Margaret Thatcher, Jeremy Corbyn, and Nigel Farage. Whatever you think of them, they had strong beliefs and stood for something. Starmer, on the other hand, comes across as a cautious manager. No bold moves, no big ideas.

This episode also touches on the shocking waste in local government. I talk about £7.5 million spent on bus shelters in Plymouth that look like shipping containers, and the ridiculous toilet renovation that went from £1,000 to £6,000 because of bureaucracy.

Names mentioned: Keir Starmer, Donald Trump, Nigel Farage, Jeremy Corbyn, Margaret Thatcher, Rory Stewart, Alastair Campbell, George Osborne, Ed Balls, Fraser Nelson, Elon Musk, Liz Truss.

Keywords: UK politics, NHS reform, Whitehall, local government, Labour Party, Reform UK, political leadership, civil service, public spending, government waste, bureaucracy, Westminster.