Radio 4

In July 2024, Sir Keir Starmer swept to Downing Street with a landslide majority, returning Labour to power after 14 years in the wilderness.

He promised a mission-led Government, ‘a decade of national renewal’ in which he would return his party and the country to the ‘service of working people’.

But Labour’s political honeymoon was short-lived: within a few months, confidence in the government was faltering amid plunging poll ratings and anger over decisions such as the removal of winter fuel payments to pensioners.

Having reported from Westminster throughout a turbulent year, BBC Chief Political Correspondent Henry Zeffman revisits the most dramatic moments – the arrival in Downing Street, early crises including summer riots, the 'freebies' scandal, a controversial Budget, economic turmoil following Trump’s tariffs, policy twists and u-turns and mould-breaking local elections heralding the rise of Reform UK.

He interviews insiders, senior figures in and around government, some of whom are speaking in detail for the first time, including former cabinet secretary Simon Case.

Why did the government have such a shaky start? Ministers blame the inheritance from the Conservatives but were some of the crises self-inflicted? Are critics right to claim the government was chaotically ill-prepared? Can Labour win back confidence and support from voters? Will the PM's confident performance on the global stage help turn fortunes around?

As we explore, we ask a fundamental question: what is this government for? ‘Change’ was Labour’s core message at the general election. How does Keir Starmer want to change Britain and how far is he succeeding?

Producer: Leela Padmanabhan

Sound design: Hal Haines