Labour’s Transition from Opposition to Government: UK Politics End-of-Year Review

IIEA Talks

In July of this year, Labour won one of the biggest landslides in British electoral history. However, according to the Irish Times’ London Correspondent Mark Paul, the new government's sheen quickly wore off. Prime Minister Keir Starmer was forced into an early reshuffle of his backroom operation while his popularity also plummeted, causing his administration to try turn the page on its early difficulties with a landmark budget that stunned Westminster in its scale. In his address to the IIEA, Mark Paul gives an overview of the challenges the Party has faced as it makes the transition from opposition to government. He discusses how confident Labour’s senior leadership is that they can lead Britain into a more stable political era. He also looks at how Labour might fend off the Tories under Kemi Badenoch and the growing electoral threat from Nigel Farage's Reform UK. About the Speaker: Mark Paul has been the London Correspondent and writer of the weekly London Letter for the Irish Times since January 2023. Before that he was the author of the backpage Caveat column in the Irish Times and also the Business Affairs Correspondent. Mr Paul joined the newspaper in 2013 from The Sunday Times, where he worked for almost a decade. He is currently a member of the Westminster press lobby, primarily observing the political intrigue in the Houses of Parliament. Mr Paul also reports on events from Holyrood and the Senedd in Edinburgh and Cardiff.