Why is Keir Starmer so disliked (before the Mandelson scandal?)

[JacquesHarlow]

AIBU to ask this? Why was he so vehemently, fundamentally disliked by the British public, even before the Mandelson saga and the (admittedly awful) lack of judgement?

I have seen worse PMs in the last decade alone. I have seen venal, self-serving, arrogant liars hold the office in that time. I have seen hapless, posh types. We’ve all seen the one who couldn’t outlast a lettuce.

So why does Keir Starmer get so much vitriolic hate in comments sections, despite having only held the office for such a short time?

Is it his perceived lack of communication skills? I’ve seen some people criticise him for not being strident, positive, energised, chummy or any of the things we often see in modern politics.

Is it his lack of identifiable policies or political strategy, where people find they can’t get behind him because they don’t know what he (personally) believes in?

Is it ageism (yep I said it!) in that he comes across as formal and correct, in a time where we’re used to seeing other personalities on the world stage?

Or is it that thing I long suspected, that the country is by default Tory in nature, and that despite a heavy frustration at the last five years of Tory incompetence, they can’t bring themselves to accept this party, and are keen to take him down any which way?

The recent saga of the last week is awful. As a woman I can’t stand to see people like the former US ambassador be enabled.

However the hate for Keir long pre dates this.

so why?? Why do people “hate” him?!

P.S I do not work for Ipsos MORI, or Labour HQ, I am not a bot or a troll or whatever people accuse others of when they don’t like the question.

The democratic process is that the Government stays in place for five years unless there is a vote of no confidence in the Government or the PM calls a GE.

Think they rushed very quickly into controversial tax rises without guiding a consensus around them first and also, the early £2000 glasses and TayTay freebies scandal was a terrible look against that backdrop.

people expected competence and they didnt get it.

There shouldn’t be. It’s not how the UK system works. That didn’t stop Labour calling for GEs when the Tories were in power. But then consistency has never been a left-wing thing.

What we need now is an able, right-wing Labour PM who recognises the values and strengths of the average voter and can speak convincingly for and attractively to the majority of the electorate. Unfortunately there are no such Labour politicians now.

To be fair I think @Araminta1003just about nailed it really.

Exactly. There are currently no grounds for holding a general election.

I think there are, but unfortunately there is no one suitable as leader.

For only the second time in history more people didn't vote than voted for the winning party.

They're now polling at 16% and sometimes in fourth or even fifth place. In some council elections they're getting less than 3% in seats they've previously won.

The manifesto has already been ripped up. The U-turns. Now we're about to lose the figurehead.

Nobody voted for this. Nobody would vote for this. They make the last lot look competent and visionary. It's time to get the clowns out.

I didn't dislike him when he came into the role. I was quite ambivalent and willing to give him a go, but I have been hugely disappointed and underwhelmed. I find him dull and uninspiring and the number of U-turns this government has made doesn't build confidence. I was furious about the VAT on private schools (politics of envy) and, whilst he may be a decent man, he's a weak leader in my opinion. I feel it's definitely time for change, as this country is stagnating.

There are no grounds for a GE under the current system.

But this is not about one crisis. This government has been a disaster from day one. The public have no confidence in it and don’t know what to believe after all the U turns.

Where do I start... as Director of Public Prosecutions, he did everything in his power to sweep Mohammed Fayed's and Jimmy Saville's sex crimes under the carpet, and to cover up the Pakistani Muslim rape gangs. Even before that as a barrister he took on PRO BONO cases of known Islamic extremists. As prime minister, he gave passports to MORE foreign-borne extremists, introduced a two-tier policing and justice system, destroyed family farms, the list goes on. Is that enough?

Are you able to provide sources for these allegations?

He is incompetent, spineless and makes decision which are very disliked by many people.

You are you need to brush up on your knowledge of how the democratic process works.

Is there such a person in the Labour Party?

I like Starmer a lot. I wish this Labour govt were more competent, but I probably feel like that about almost every govt. I want every govt to be competent & make us all better off because that's what we all should want govts to achieve.

FWIW, I don't like GB News, Donald Trump or Reform. I'm also very grateful to live now and don't feel the past was better place.

Funny enough, 2 days ago someone told me with passion how much she hated Starmer. I don't know why because I didn't ask.

The Starmer-hater I know, she watches GB News A Lot & wears a Trump pendant. "He gets things done!" she said about Trump. (Yes she is English living in England, and I'm very fond of her, actually). She thinks the UK has become an awful place but only kind of recently. Not an awful place when she was a child (WWII bombing), not in the 50s (rationing, most homes lacked central heating, rampant legal racism & sexism, kids leaving school at 16 with only job to go down the mines), not in the 60s-80s (constant threat of nuclear war, rolling blackouts of the 1970s, cap in hand to IMF, crazy inflation, miners' strikes...), nor the 1990s (cash for Questions, auto-aphyxiation sex scandals), nor the Austerity years (2007-2015) nor PartyGate (2020-2021) in Covid times.... None of that was so terrible as "the country" is now (she feels).

thus, for me, those things go together. Reform-voter, GB-news watcher, Trump-lover, Starmer hater, "the country is on a downward trajectory especially recently" beliefs.

That's how our democratic system works. It's first past the post, polls don't count.

"Now we're about to lose the figurehead."
What?

I suspect HesseWeisseSchokolade will tell you to do your own research!

There is increasing talk of this chap:

www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/dec/13/who-is-al-carns-former-marine-and-labour-minister-with-sights-on-leadership

Why do you think Angela Rayner is now deleting all her tweets calling for a General Election when Sunak became PM?

The public voted for Starmer to be PM. They did NOT vote to be led by Angela Rayner

I've seen lefty friends make Facebook posts about how much they hate Starmer, the Labour party and how they will never vote for them again. I think it's some of the people that voted them in and are quite politically motivated that feel the most let down by them.

This this this

So what? She called for a GE, yes, but didn't get one. Because there was nothing in the rules governing the process that meant there had to be one. Same applies here.

We vote for a party, not the leader. The party can change the leader if they wish as the Conservatives proved repeatedly when they were in power.

Do you know anything about democracy, politics or history in the UK at all?