{"id":641453,"date":"2025-12-19T03:17:14","date_gmt":"2025-12-19T03:17:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/641453\/"},"modified":"2025-12-19T03:17:14","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T03:17:14","slug":"how-to-watch-british-politics-in-2026-like-a-pro-politico","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/641453\/","title":{"rendered":"How to watch British politics in 2026 like a pro \u2013 POLITICO"},"content":{"rendered":"

To turn it around, Starmer\u2019s aides want to tackle problems baked into the state for years \u2014on welfare, social care, backlogged courts, special needs support and glacial infrastructure development. Ministers will have to enact reforms they promised to the migration system, a political landmine that has wounded so many predecessors.<\/p>\n

Endless hurdles stand in Starmer\u2019s way. Some, like his own leadership, are down to him. Others, like Ukraine and Donald Trump\u2019s mercurial trade policy, will feel out of his grasp. <\/p>\n

Below, POLITICO whips through the key dates for your diary in a year that will test whether Starmer can survive. And you can listen to an audio tour of the year ahead (with special guests) in POLITICO\u2019s Westminster Insider podcast<\/a>, presented by Patrick Baker.<\/p>\n

Is Keir Starmer doomed?<\/p>\n

Elections <\/strong>on May 7<\/strong> should show big gains for Reform UK and test if Britain\u2019s two mainstream parties are in freefall. With the Scottish and Welsh parliaments, all 32 London boroughs and 100 other English councils up for grabs, these are the closest thing to \u201cmidterms\u201d before a general election in 2029. Scottish Labour fears third place behind the Scottish National Party and Reform, while polls project Welsh Labour (after a century in power) could be the junior partner in a coalition with left-wing nationalists Plaid Cymru. Labour figures in London fear the Greens will eat them from the left.<\/p>\n

\"\"Endless hurdles stand in Keir Starmer\u2019s way. | Tolga Akmen\/EPA<\/p>\n

Can Keir Starmer survive? <\/strong>This will depend if 80 Labour MPs are willing to put their names to a public leadership putsch, and whether the faction-ridden party then unites around a candidate. MPs whisper that Health Secretary Wes Streeting, the most ambitious son of the \u201cLabour right,\u201d is struggling to convince a figure of the \u201csoft left,\u201d such as former Deputy PM Angela Rayner, to run on a joint ticket. (Naturally, both teams deny maneuvering). Other names include Defence Secretary John Healey and Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, but whether either would get the numbers is unclear. Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham has paraded his ambitions but would need to win a by-election to become an MP, and Labour\u2019s ruling body may block him.<\/p>\n

It will be a big year for the future of the left<\/strong>. <\/strong>The Greens have surged in the polls under their new leader, hypnotist Zack Polanski, who abandoned any offer to Conservatives in favor of left-wing populism. May will test whether the Greens can capitalize or find their vote split by Your Party, a troubled left-wing outfit linked to ex-Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"To turn it around, Starmer\u2019s aides want to tackle problems baked into the state for years \u2014on welfare,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":641454,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5018,3,4],"tags":[8916,9311,748,1193,1194,1395,32,33,393,1214,4884,2819,807,6657,384,1144,619,8721,712,60422,1201,16,15,1764,3595],"class_list":{"0":"post-641453","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-britain","8":"category-uk","9":"category-united-kingdom","10":"tag-andy-burnham","11":"tag-angela-rayner","12":"tag-britain","13":"tag-british-politics","14":"tag-budget","15":"tag-china","16":"tag-donald-trump","17":"tag-elections","18":"tag-england","19":"tag-exports","20":"tag-great-britain","21":"tag-john-healey","22":"tag-keir-starmer","23":"tag-migration","24":"tag-nigel-farage","25":"tag-northern-ireland","26":"tag-rachel-reeves","27":"tag-richard-tice","28":"tag-scotland","29":"tag-shabana-mahmood","30":"tag-trade","31":"tag-uk","32":"tag-united-kingdom","33":"tag-wales","34":"tag-wes-streeting"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115744070952020162","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/641453","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=641453"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/641453\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/641454"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=641453"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=641453"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=641453"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}