Keir Starmer has pledged that his government will “stay the course” in 2026 following renewed speculation about his future as Labour leader.
In his New Year message, the prime minister acknowledged life is still harder than it should be for many in the UK, acknowledging that the cost-of-living crisis makes it harder to eat out, take a holiday or make family moments special.
But he insisted that his government would defeat the “decline and division offered by others”, forecasting that the UK will “turn a corner” next year and that people will begin to feel “a sense of hope” in the coming months despite a slew of negative economic headlines in recent months.
His message comes as his own position comes increasingly under threat, with the economy faltering and Labour trailing Nigel Farage’s Reform UK in the polls.
Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, was also recently forced to deny that he is plotting to return to Westminster and oust Sir Keir as Labour leader.
The home secretary Shabana Mahmood, meanwhile, did not reject a suggestion that she would like the top job just days after a high-profile event with Sir Tony Blair, widely seen as an endorsement of her as the next leader.
In his address to the country, the PM acknowledged that “renewal is not an overnight job”, as he said the challenges his government faces “were decades in the making”.
But he insisted: “In 2026, the choices we’ve made will mean more people will begin to feel positive change in your bills, your communities and your health service.
“But even more people will feel once again a sense of hope, a belief that things can and will get better, feel that the promise of renewal can become a reality, and my government will make it that reality.”
This would include more police on the streets by March, followed by falling energy bills and a number of new NHS health hubs by April. “And with that change, decline will be reversed,” he added.
He said that he shared “the frustration about the pace of change” but that “putting our country back on a stable footing will become our strength.”
“We are getting Britain back on track. By staying the course, we will defeat the decline and division offered by others,” he added. “When Britain turns the corner with our future now in our control, the real Britain will shine through more strongly.”
In her New Year message, Ms Badenoch condemned the “politics of grievance” which she said was telling voters “we’re destined to stay the same”.
“Things can change, but you also need to vote for the change you want to see in 2026,” she said. “I’m not giving up on our country. And I hope you won’t either.”
Meanwhile, Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said his party would go into the new year looking for election wins to “stop Trump’s America becoming Farage’s Britain”.
In his own new year’s pitch to voters, Mr Farage said his party would go about “fundamentally changing the whole system of government in Britain” if it won the next general election.
Reform took a seat from Labour in the Commons, winning Runcorn and Helsby in a by-election by a majority of six in May this year amid opinion poll momentum for the insurgent party. But an October by-election in Caerphilly saw Plaid Cymru beat Reform to a seat in the Senedd, by a majority of 3,848.
