What Starmer can learn from ‘Airbus Albo’

There are a lot of similarities between Britain and its old antipodean outpost in Australia. Despite the differences and (always friendly) rivalries that have emerged since 1788, we do sometimes line up on similar issues. Such is the case with the current positions of our respective Labour/Labor Prime Ministers.

4 July saw the first anniversary of Keir Starmer’s Labour government, described by one opinion writer for The New York Times as a ‘miserable milestone’ beset by months of declining popularity, mutinies, and ‘successive humiliating U-turns’. As Joseph Dinnage wrote for CapX in the days leading up to the anniversary: ‘Not even the most centrist of dads could, in good faith, describe Starmer’s first year as Prime Minister as having gone well’.

Part of the problem, which has exposed itself rather quickly in the UK, is that Starmer and his Labour government thought that they were more popular than they really were. It was only 12 months ago that he led the Labour Party to a thumping victory, taking 411 of the 650 seats in the House of Commons. But the reality is that he did this from just 33.7% of the primary vote.

Labour’s resounding victory was bound to ring hollow for two reasons.

Firstly, it has a ‘mandate mirage’, with the appearance of popularity masking deep public dissatisfaction about the way things are going, from immigration and housing affordability to the perceived priorities of a Prime Minister focused on external affairs rather than British prosperity.

Secondly, large majorities are destabilising. Political scientists highlight that leaders of political parties want to win, just not too convincingly. A majority large enough to withstand a couple of by-election losses is required, but anything more may spell trouble amongst backbenchers who, on a smaller team, are well behaved for fear of missing out on future promotions.

A year into his Prime Ministership, these two factors are making themselves known to Starmer.

Which is where the interesting parallel with Australia arises.

Like Starmer, Australia’s Labor Prime Minister Anthony Albanese just won an overwhelming electoral victory at the 2025 general election. Albanese’s Labor won 94 of 150 seats, statistically the same number as Starmer’s Labour (63%). Like Starmer, Albanese won these seats from only a slightly higher, but still very low, primary vote of 34.6%. Like Starmer, Albanese has both a mandate mirage and a potentially unwieldy backbench.

The difference between how the two got to their current positions – Albanese built upon an earlier, more modest, victory in 2022 while Starmer came out of the gate with it – is where there are potential lessons for Starmer and the UK political class. 

Like in the UK, in recent years there has been a feeling in the Australian community that the Labor government hasn’t done what they said they were going to do, leaving some of the most pressing issues for workers and households unaddressed.

Albanese constantly promised that he would drag household energy bills down (which shouldn’t be difficult in a country that is one of the top providers of both coal and natural gas to international markets), but instead they have only increased. 

Institute of Public Affairs analysis has shown that Albanese’s government overran its already deeply unpopular immigration program by some 351,000 between 2022-23 and 2024-25.

Polling earlier this year found 74.6% of Australians thought that reducing the cost of living should be a priority for the government, compared to only 30.7% who nominated climate change as a priority.

The mandate mirage in the UK and Australia masks deep frustrations in constituencies fed up with the way they have been treated by the political class. But how Albanese managed to put himself into this position after three years of power, and reported disappointment may provide some insights for Starmer and the UK’s political class more broadly.

Staying in the country and dealing with local, tangible issues will allow Starmer to improve his standing with the people. For a time, Albanese was called ‘Airbus Albo’ for his constant trips abroad, which came at a time when he was promoting the socially divisive, race-based constitutional ‘Voice’ to parliament. His popularity improved significantly when he reduced the number of overseas trips, provided tax cuts to low and middle-income earners, scrapped plans for radical environmental reform, talked constantly about the cost of living and managed to steer away from woke cultural issues.

Additionally, voters will not simply return to the Conservative Party. They must be given a good reason to do so. Similarly to the 2024 election in the UK, part of Albanese’s success in 2025 was the failure of the conservative Liberal Party. The Liberals failed to restore their position in the community and differentiate themselves from the government they sought to replace.

Albanese managed to turn around an almost-certain defeat in the six months leading up to the Australian election. Keir Starmer has plenty of time left to reconnect with British voters and do the same, if he chooses to.

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