There are moments in politics when you can see the tide has irreversibly turned. Keir Starmer’s much-hyped speech this morning was one of those moments – not because it miraculously reset his premiership, but because it confirmed just how exhausted and politically diminished it has become even after less than two years. Some Labour MPs are today saying it is “too little, too late” and the number calling for him to set out a timetable for his departure grows by the hour.

The problem for the Prime Minister is not merely that Labour has suffered very bruising electoral setbacks (to say the least), dreadful polling, internal warfare, and a collapse in morale. It is that nobody knows what he really believes, what he wants Britain to become, or why he should remain in the top job beyond simple managerial inertia. The country feels stuck-and increasingly so does Labour.

This morning’s speech was clearly designed as a last throw of the dice: tougher rhetoric, promises of “delivery,” renewed attacks on Reform UK, and very vague noises about rebuilding relations with Europe. But the public mood has already moved on. Voters are crying out not for another relaunch, another reset, or another carefully focus-grouped slogan. They want conviction, optimism, honesty, and genuine political leadership.

And crucially, the UK needs more than merely a new face at the top. It needs a fundamentally new approach.

We need a Prime Minister willing to finally confront the economic self-harm of Brexit honestly and unapologetically. “Closer ties” with Europe are no longer enough. If we genuinely want economic growth, investment, higher living standards, and a functioning trading relationship with our nearest neighbours, the UK must begin the journey back to the Single Market, Customs Union, and, ultimately, rejoining the EU.

We need leadership prepared to seriously invest in public services-including, crucially, getting health spending up to the European average-rather than governing through permanent scarcity. Britain cannot cut its way to prosperity while hospitals crumble, councils collapse, infrastructure decays, and younger generations lose hope.

And above all, we need a compelling national story again. One that says Britain can still be outward-looking, internationalist, socially liberal, economically dynamic, and confident in its place in the world.

If I had a vote on the matter, which of course I don’t, I would probably lean towards Andy Burnham or Angela Rayner. Burnham, in particular, seems to understand modern Britain far better than much of Westminster does, which perhaps explains why parts of the Labour machine worked so hard to block his return to Parliament earlier this year. Rayner, meanwhile, increasingly sounds like someone who recognises the urgency of the party reconnecting with everyday voters.

But it will also be fascinating to watch Wes Streeting, whose leadership ambitions have long been barely disguised. Having recently met him myself to discuss emergency care pressures, I can certainly say he possesses political sharpness and confidence in abundance.

Whoever ends up succeeding Starmer would also be wise to build a constructive relationship with we Liberal Democrats. In a genuinely multi-party era, Labour may yet find itself needing Lib Dem support after the next election depending on the electoral arithmetic-and any sensible progressive leader should recognise that cooperation, not tribalism, as the future of British politics.

Good results for the Lib Dems – but where’s the radical edge?

We Lib Dems can look at these election results with a degree of quiet satisfaction. We advanced in parts of England, held our ground in difficult areas, made gains in Scotland (just don’t mention Shetland), and once again demonstrated that we remain a serious, if perhaps not exactly always exciting, force in British politics.

But let’s be honest: nothing truly set the world alight.

For a party that should be benefiting from disillusionment with both Labour and the Conservatives, too much of our performance felt “steady as she goes” rather than genuinely transformational. Competent? Certainly. Encouraging in places? Absolutely. But politically electric? Er, not exactly.

And serious questions need to be asked about Wales, where we just held on to our sole seat in the Senedd and our wider political relevance still feels frustratingly constrained. In a nation crying out for fresh liberal and federalist thinking, we remain too peripheral.

The bigger challenge for us as a party is this: where is our radical edge? Where is the bold liberal vision capable of inspiring people beyond tactical voting and local campaigning? Competence matters, of course. Community politics matters, for sure. But if want to become a truly major national force again, we must remember the radicalism that once made Liberalism great.

Thank You, Joe!

As Cllr Joe Harris steps down from leading our party in local government (at the LGA), he deserves enormous thanks. A steady pair of hands during difficult times, Joe has consistently championed councils and local democracy-even when maybe, at times, the national party did not always fully appreciate their importance. Liberals in local government owe him a great deal.

Cheers, Joe.

* Mathew Hulbert is a former Councillor, is a regular commentator on TV and Radio, and is Co-Host of the Political Frenemies podcast.