UK’s Starmer Appeals to Working-Class Voters, Challenges Reform Party’s Populism

Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Tuesday issued a direct appeal to working-class voters, urging Labour’s traditional base to reject what he called the “snake oil” of the populist Reform UK party and instead back his vision of “a Britain built for everyone.”

In one of his strongest defences of his premiership since last July’s landslide election win, Starmer attacked Brexit figurehead Nigel Farage and his Reform party, accusing them of seeking only to sow division.

Facing pressure from both the right-wing Reform and a resurgent left-wing party led by his predecessor Jeremy Corbyn, Starmer asked voters to remain patient with his government, which he described as taking its first steps toward “renewing Britain.” He called for unity to “fight for the soul of our country.”

Starmer: Britain Stands at a Crossroads
“No matter how many tell me it can’t be done, I believe Britain can come together,” Starmer declared in Liverpool, where Labour held its second annual conference since his government came to power.

“We can all see the choice before us, a defining choice. Britain stands at a crossroads. We can choose decency, or we can choose division. Renewal or decline,” he said, challenging critics within his own party who have questioned his leadership after recent setbacks against Reform in by-elections.

Acknowledging the difficulties of his first year in office, Starmer repeated his pledge to improve living standards and put more money into voters’ pockets.

But he also sought to cast Labour as a patriotic party, with party officials encouraging delegates to wave Union flags as applause broke out.

“For me, patriotism is about love and pride, about serving something bigger than yourself—the common good,” he said. “And I ask Nigel Farage and Reform a serious question: do they love our country… or do they only want to divide it, because division serves their interests?”