Sir Keir Starmer's praise of Margaret Thatcher sparks internal party backlash

Sir Keir Starmer has sparked a backlash among members of his own party after he praised Margaret Thatcher for effecting “meaningful change” in the UK.

The Labour leader launched a bid to woo Conservative voters as he urged them “to take a look” at his party once again ahead of the next general election.

In an article for The Sunday Telegraph, Sir Keir said he was extending a hand of friendship to all Britons – irrespective of whom they have supported in the past at the ballot box.

But the comments that have attracted the most attention were the Labour leader’s praise of the late Baroness Thatcher, whom he said effected “meaningful change” in the UK as she “sought to drag Britain out of its stupor by setting loose our natural entrepreneurialism” during her 11 years in Downing Street.

The remarks have angered some MPs on the left of his party, with one telling Sky News they believed it meant Sir Keir “intends to govern without any real political project of his own”.

“It means meaningful or transformational change is well and truly off the table,” they added.

“He is in effect holding the Tory party’s pint, whilst they get themselves ready to run the country again.”

Britain’s first female prime minister remains a deeply divisive figure in UK politics, from the Falklands War and the bitter year-long miners’ strike to privatisation and the poll tax, which ultimately led to her downfall.

Ian Byrne, the Labour MP for Liverpool West Derby, posted on X: “Inequality, hunger, destitution & misery. That’s the real legacy left by Thatcher.”

Kim Johnson, who represents Liverpool Riverside, said Margaret Thatcher “did nothing for working-class communities in Liverpool and across the country: destroyed industries, attacked trade unionists, privatised our core industries”.

Elsewhere in his article, Sir Keir sought to stress that his party had changed from the days when it was led by Jeremy Corbyn.

“Across Britain there are people who feel disillusioned, frustrated, angry, worried,” he wrote. “Many of them have always voted Conservative but feel that their party has left them. I understand that.

“I saw that with my own party and acted to fix it. But I also understand that many will still be uncertain about Labour. I ask them to take a look at us again.”

He went on to argue that “Labour has changed dramatically” since Mr Corbyn’s time as leader – and claimed his party had undergone “shock therapy” to ensure it was “rooted in the priorities, the concerns and the dreams of ordinary British people”.

Sir Keir later sought to clarify his comments, telling the BBC that his intention was to compare the “drift” of recent years with the “sense of mission” embodied by previous leaders – including Labour prime ministers Clement Attlee and Sir Tony Blair.

“It doesn’t mean I agree with what she [Thatcher] did, but I don’t think anybody could suggest she didn’t have a driving sense of purpose,” he explained.

Sir Keir contrasted his approach with the Tories under Prime Minister Rishi Sunak – claiming that the government has been drifting away from the electorate after “years of sowing empty promises, cynical falsehoods and false dawns”.

Adam Boulton analysis: Why Sunak is getting uptight about Starmer

The opposition leader claimed the current state of Britain is cause to throw hands up in despair, and the country no longer works for those it is supposed to.

Is it worth riling up Labour’s left-wing?

For a long time, the discussion around Labour’s resurgence centred on whether it could reclaim its red wall – its industrial heartlands in the north of the country that turned blue during the 2019 general election.

The latest move from Sir Keir Starmer suggests the party has set its eyes on a bigger prize. He wants to win over Conservative voters who may never have voted Labour before – akin to what the Tories managed in 2019.

The Labour leader published an op-ed in The Sunday Telegraph (which on its own speaks volumes). He invoked the legacy of Margaret Thatcher, praising her for unlocking Britain’s entrepreneurial spirit.

Many traditional Labour voters will disagree with that assessment.

How will it go down in Scotland, where Labour is trying to pry seats from the SNP, or with voters in Labour’s former industrial heartlands?

For those on the left of his party, Margaret Thatcher is still a deeply unpopular figure. They will be feeling even more uncomfortable today.

Read Gurpreet’s full analysis here

Asked about Sir Keir’s praise of Baroness Thatcher, shadow business secretary Jonathan Reynolds told Sky News’ Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips that the point of his article was to show Labour could be the “vehicle for change in the UK”.

Asked if he himself was a Thatcher fan, Mr Reynolds replied: “No, I am not. But I can recognise that she was a formidable opponent.”

But Health Secretary Victoria Atkins said she believed the public would “see this for what it is”.

“Don’t forget he wasn’t appealing to Margaret Thatcher’s entrepreneurial spirit when he was courting votes from the hard left,” she told Sir Trevor.

“And I suspect the great lady herself would view a man who is trying to ride on the coattails of her success with the following words – no, no, no.”

Mr Sunak was also criticised for failing to get a grip on immigration, with Sir Keir accusing the PM of “a betrayal” after net migration rose – despite repeated Conservative promises that this figure would fall.

Sir Keir also lambasted the “nonsensical” idea that some topics are “off limits” for Labour – vowing to “smash the criminal gangs growing fat on the misery of human trafficking”.

The latest figures suggest Labour has a 20-point lead over the Tories in the polls, with the opposition telling supporters that “all signals” are pointing to an election in May.