by Xinhua writers Zhao Jiasong, Zhao Xiaona, and Larry Neild
LONDON, Dec. 30 (Xinhua) -- When the comedian Duncan Wisbey impersonated British Prime Minister Kier Starmer during the recent Royal Variety Performance, the audience enthusiastically booed. Theatergoers then erupted into laughter when Wisbey said that "everyone in Britain" wants Starmer gone.
This entertaining moment doubled as an unintended year-end summary for Labour, which is in power but deeply unpopular. Eighteen months since the party swept into government, promising competence and calm, Starmer is facing a tight fiscal situation, and the public's patience is wearing thin.
An end-of-year poll by YouGov showed only 18 percent support for Starmer in mid-December, the lowest rate since he became the party's leader. Another YouGov year-end review put the government's net approval in deeply negative territory, roughly where the Conservatives ended their long spell in office.
SCANDALS, POLICY MISFIRES
"Too many people living in the UK question Sir Keir Starmer's commitment to cleaning up British politics. There have been too many examples of what can only be termed irresponsible practice. These include Labour's freebies controversy and the current controversy regarding (ex-Deputy Prime Minister) Angela Rayner," said John Bryson, a professor at the University of Birmingham.
In March, amid a deteriorating fiscal outlook, Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves announced sweeping cuts to disability benefits, prompting a backlash from Labour lawmakers. By late June, the government had largely reversed course, dropping most of the planned cuts after an internal revolt. However, the U-turn left a 5 billion-pound (about 6.8 billion U.S. dollars) hole in the budget.
Meanwhile, in early September, the British government carried out a major cabinet reshuffle after Angela Rayner resigned following a property tax scandal. This has fueled questions over Labour's integrity and deepened concerns over a potential crisis of public trust.
Bryson said the Labour government is "still learning how to govern" and has relied on "client politics": moves designed to satisfy core voters, such as taxing independent schools and granting above-inflation public-sector pay. However, Britain is facing a "major fiscal crisis" and persistent problems in public service delivery.
ECONOMIC HEADWINDS
Labour's challenge is derived from a piling-up of economic pressure, rather than a single scandal or policy misfire.
Britain eked out modest growth in 2025, avoiding a technical recession but struggling to generate momentum. Several annual assessments have put full-year expansion at about 1.4 percent, a pace that kept the economy moving forward but remained below the norms.
After a brief lift early in the year thanks to public spending, the second half of the year fell under renewed strain. Consumer demand stayed subdued, the labor market showed clearer cooling signs, and business investment was low.
In public life, strikes flared across the rail, health, and education sectors, while farmers protested over rising costs and policy changes. The demands were different across various groups, but grievances often pointed to the same issues: squeezed living standards and doubts over whether government policy was making a difference.
For households, the cost-of-living squeeze persisted even as inflation eased. Prices for essentials such as energy and food continued to rise faster than many incomes, while "fiscal drag" from frozen income-tax thresholds pulled more people into higher tax bands.
Taxation has remained a political flashpoint. A YouGov survey found 63 percent of respondents said that the level of tax ordinary people pay is high, including 19 percent who described it as "very high," highlighting a mood inclined to spend cautiously.
Ian Scott, a professor at the University of Manchester, said the direction of policy felt like "Reeves may give with one hand and take away with the other."
Business sentiment remained fragile. A quarterly survey in October from the British Chambers of Commerce found that 48 percent of firms expected turnover to rise over the next 12 months, while 21 percent expected a fall. Only 21 percent had increased investment, and 25 percent had scaled back plans.
YEAR-LONG IMMIGRATION HEADACHE
Another issue feeding public frustration this year is immigration, highlighted by small-boat crossings across the English Channel and the resulting strain on asylum processing and hotel accommodations, despite repeated government pledges to "get a grip" on the problem.
Ipsos's monthly Issues Index has consistently ranked immigration as the country's top public concern in 2025, with the figure hitting 51 percent in September, its highest level in a decade.
In an effort to crack down on illegal immigration, the government has strengthened cooperation with France, including a "one-in, one-out" returns scheme, aimed at reducing the number of immigrants crossing the English Channel.
Nevertheless, despite this tougher posture, Channel crossings remain high. The latest Home Office data show that more than 40,000 people were detected arriving by small boat this year in about 650 vessels. On a single day in December, 803 people arrived in 13 boats, pushing 2025 close to the post-2018 peak in arrivals.
For those who have already reached Britain, accommodation has also become a flashpoint for local communities. In Epping, Essex, protests outside the Bell Hotel, which was being used to house asylum seekers, turned violent in July. Police reported several officers were injured, and the local council later halted the use of the site.
Professor Scott said the dispute has widened beyond the crossings themselves to arguments about "housing and where such people should reside for a period." He said, "If the British government doesn't get a handle on this quickly, perceptions of incompetence about this government are only going to increase."
Labour's push to tighten legal migration has offered no easy political reset either, even though the government said in November that it had carried out the "biggest overhaul of the legal migration model in 50 years."
Iain Begg, a professor at the London School of Economics and Political Science, said the tougher rules would only work if the government could also address the labor shortages driving demand for overseas workers. "This linkage is likely to be crucial for whether the cautious goals for lowering net migration can be achieved," he said.
