These were the five most important days in Keir Starmer’s first 100 as PM

If you search Labour’s General Election manifesto for the phrase ‘100 days’, there’s only one result that comes up.

The party committed to introducing legislation that would offer a ‘New Deal to Working People’ within that period – and it did, when the Employment Rights Bill was revealed on Thursday.

But of course, Sir Keir Starmer’s first 100 days as Prime Minister were memorable for many more reasons than just that.

The percentage of Brits with a positive opinion of him has plunged from 44% just after the election to 27% now, and his net favourability is an atrocious minus 36.

So what happened? We’ve picked out five days that capture the ups and downs of Starmer and his government to mark today’s milestone.

July 23: Seven MPs suspended

In much of the commentary around Sir Keir, one word stands out: ruthless.

Before the election, it was used to describe his efforts to overhaul the Labour Party following Jeremy Corbyn’s resignation as leader and install loyal allies where he had ousted those who back his predecessor.

But he seemed to be keen to uphold that image after taking office on July 5.

Less than three weeks after becoming Prime Minister, he saw an opportunity to demonstrate how little tolerance he had for dissent in his ranks.

Seven of his MPs – Richard Burgon, Apsana Begum, Ian Byrne, Rebecca Long-Bailey, John McDonnell, Imran Hussain and Zarah Sultana – voted for an SNP amendment that said it had been a mistake not to announce the end of the two-child benefit cap in the King’s Speech.

Immediately, the whip was removed from the lot of them. The government could afford to lose a few votes following its huge election landslide.

The party said it was particularly egregious for MPs to vote against their own King’s Speech, and no other rebels have been suspended since.

However, this early action allowed the PM’s critics to suggest he’d punished the seven for voting to scrap the benefit cap – which isn’t quite accurate.

July 29: An announcement from the Chancellor

This was the moment we first heard about two things that we’ve barely stopped hearing about since.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves gave her first major speech in the role, and said a rapid audit of the country’s finances had revealed a £22 billion black hole left by the previous government.

Cue plenty of debate about whether or not this figure was as unexpected as she claimed, and what calculations went into it.

This situation left Reeves having to make many tough decisions, she said, including the scrapping of the universal winter fuel payment for pensioners. The benefit would become means-tested, meaning 10 million older people would miss out.

Reeves will have known this would upset a lot of people, which is why she announced it far in advance of the Budget on October 30. But the scale of the backlash has been stunning.

The government has ensured we don’t forget about the £22 billion black hole, bringing it up every chance they get. And everyone else has ensured we don’t forget about the winter fuel cut – including the Tories, in an advert that may have featured an ill-advised cameo from a Rolex watch…

On the same day as Reeves’ speech, horror unfolded at a Taylor Swift dance class in Southport. Three young girls were killed, sparking nationwide anger that metastasized into ugly riots.

August 4: Riots reach disturbing climax

There was unrest in several cities around the UK in the days after the Southport attack, with shop windows smashed and cars set on fire.

But the image from the riots that will linger in many minds emerged outside a Holiday Inn Express in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, on August 4.

While clashing with police officers, far-right agitators pushed a flaming bin against an open window at the hotel – which was housing asylum seekers – in an apparent attempt to set it alight.

Later that day, Sir Keir addressed the nation from Downing Street, saying: ‘I guarantee you will regret taking part in this disorder, whether directly or those whipping up this action online and then running away themselves.

‘This is not a protest, it is organised, violent thuggery and it has no place on our streets or online.’

A few days later, the disorder died down and those who took part began to be sentenced in court.

Once the dust had settled, YouGov ran a poll asking how the public thought the riots had been handled by government. It found 43% thought Sir Keir had dealt with them well, while 40% thought he had done badly.

August 25: Freebie row begins to grow

On August 25, the Sunday Times ran a story about Labour peer Lord Waheed Alli being given a temporary pass to Downing Street after donating £500,000 to the party.

In the weeks leading up to that article, there had been several revelations about Labour supporters being given roles that were supposed to be explicitly non-partisan – but it was the Alli story that really stuck.

It started an avalanche of stories about gifts and donations received by Sir Keir and other top figures in the government, including clothes and tickets to see Taylor Swift.

Freebies are nothing new in Westminster. There’s a whole register of interests, published regularly throughout the year, to try and keep the system transparent.

However, the idea that independently wealthy politicians were happy to accept a range of gifts while also cutting benefits to pensioners peeved a lot of people.

It got to the point where Downing Street announced earlier this month that the PM had repaid more than £6,000 of gifts and hospitality since the election.

By that time, the row had already made him the butt of many jokes at the Reform and Conservative party conferences.

October 6: Sue Gray steps down

Party conference season came and went, with Labour’s unusually subdued gathering taking place in Liverpool from September 15 to 18.

In the background, anger appears to have been brewing over the ways in which all the issues listed above were handled. The government had lost control of the narrative many times, bringing an unwelcome whiff of chaos.

For some, much of the blame was laid at the feet of the PM’s Chief of Staff Sue Gray. Last Sunday, she resigned from the role.

The former civil servant was handed the position of ‘envoy to the nations and regions’, which had not existed before. On Friday, she skipped the first meeting of the Council of Nations and Regions, ostensibly because she was taking a quick career break.

Her old job was given to Morgan McSweeney, one of the masterminds behind Sir Keir’s successful run for Labour leader and the party’s extraordinary election victory.

Under his watch, the operation at No 10 is expected to focus more heavily on political tactics and messaging. We’ll have to wait and see how this early reset will affect the 100 days to come – and all the days that will follow.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.