Britain’s Labor Party is coming together after an inauspicious start in government and a clothing scandal

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LONDON (AP) – This should be a time of celebration for Britain’s Labor Party, which opens its annual conference on Sunday less than three months after winning power after 14 years of opposition.

But it’s not a victory lap for Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

His government is facing the brunt of a struggling economy and an electorate impatient for change. The mood among Labor members gathered in the north-west English city of Liverpool was further dampened by Starmer’s acceptance of freebies at a time when millions of people are struggling with the cost of living.

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Starmer insists she followed the rules when she took clothes and designer glasses from Waheed Alli, a media entrepreneur and long-time Labor donor. But after days of negative headlines, the group now says Starmer will not accept any more free clothes.

“I get that people are angry,” said Deputy Premier Angela Rayner, who also accepted donations to pay for the clothing.

“But gifts and hospitality and cash donations have been part of our politics for a long time,” he told the BBC. “People can look and see what people have contributed, and transparency is very important.”

Starmer won the July 4 election on a promise to “restore politics as a force for good” after years of scandal under the Conservatives. He vowed to boost the country’s faltering economy and restore fragile public services such as the government-funded National Health Service.

Since then, he has struck a dour note, saying there is a $22 billion ($29 billion) “black hole” in public finances left by the Conservative government, and warning that “things are going to get worse” before they get better. One of the government’s first major actions was to deprive millions of retirees of a payment that was meant to help them heat their homes in the winter.

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Starmer has also faced anti-immigrant riots that erupted after three children were stabbed to death in Southport, near Liverpool, in July. Starmer responded strongly, promising swift justice and tough sentences for protesters. But prison overcrowding, a legacy of the last government, meant hundreds of prisoners had to be released early to make way for newly convicted criminals.

Then came the clothing scandal, dubbed “frockgate” after the clothes donated by the prime minister’s wife, Victoria Starmer.

Keir Starmer is also facing complaints among his staff about the pay of his chief of staff, Sue Gray. The BBC revealed he is paid 170,000 pounds ($225,000) a year – about 3,000 pounds more than the prime minister’s salary. The government says it was not involved in setting the level of pay for political consultants.

Labor says the criticism is aimed at the Conservatives and their supporters in the media. But surveys suggest it hurts. An Ipsos poll released on Friday found 25% of respondents thought Starmer was doing a good job – down from 36% in July – and 42% thought he was doing a bad job, down from 14%. The firm interviewed 1,082 adults by phone and the margin of error is three percentage points or more.

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“He promised to be different, but he didn’t,” Conservative MP Chris Philp told the BBC. “He does not run a government that works for the people, he runs a government that works for himself.”

The barrage of bad news has alarmed many Labor members, who are most concerned about tax hikes and spending cuts when the government announces its first budget on October 30.

Labor leaders will try to deliver a more positive message when Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves makes a televised conference speech on Monday, followed by Starmer on Tuesday. They hope to add excitement to the four-day conference, a combination of pep rally, policy forum and boozy bash that plays an important role in maintaining morale among party activists.

The government says it has made positive changes, including ending a wave of public sector strikes. In the coming weeks, he is planning legislation that would take public ownership of railways, establish a state-owned green energy company, impose stricter regulations on water factories that dump sewage and strengthen the rights of workers and employers.

Victoria Honeyman, who is a professor of British politics at the University of Leeds, said that Labour’s first months in office are expected to be difficult because voters have high expectations.

“But they made mistakes,” he said. “The clothing business, it’s not a mistake, but it’s the kind of thing that will stay in people’s minds for some time and could have been easily avoided.

“It shows a lack of attention or a lack of caution, any good looks.”

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