Keir Starmer's first year

One year after taking office, Prime Minister Keir Starmer surprises with a foreign policy record that even sceptics acknowledge. He has succeeded in repositioning the UK as a global and European player - with initiatives to support Ukraine, to build and expand European defense capabilities and through international trade agreements. One of his most important successes is undoubtedly the rapprochement with Europe. At the beginning of his term of office, Starmer announced a “Brexit reset” in order to advance cooperation with European partners. Relations with Germany in particular are a high priority. During the first official visit by Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz on July 17, a comprehensive bilateral agreement will be signed with Germany - the most far-reaching agreement that the UK has ever concluded with a single European country. Starmer himself speaks of a “generational treaty”. Domestically, however, the balance sheet is mixed. The Prime Minister is under pressure - from his own party, from an increasingly dissatisfied electorate, and from the opposition. The right-wing populists from Reform UK are a particular concern. His government policy sometimes seems contradictory: pragmatic in its implementation but often lacking a discernible guiding principle. Since taking office, Starmer has shown considerable ideological flexibility - a course that is causing friction within the party. Even before the election, he had already led Labour towards the political center; in many areas, his government is now following the agenda of its Conservative predecessors. This change of course is particularly evident in migration policy, but is also reflected in other areas: deregulation of environmental protection in some areas, cuts to the welfare state and a significantly increased defense budget at the expense of international development cooperation. On the occasion of the first anniversary of the Starmer government, one might provocatively ask whether Labor are the better conservatives.