Senior minister says Starmer's leadership style didn't fit politics

A senior British government minister has said that former Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer had a leadership style that did not fully fit the world of politics. Yvette Cooper made these comments on a popular political podcast called Political Currency. She spoke with former chancellor George Osborne and was open about both the successes and struggles of Starmer's time in power. Cooper now serves as Health Secretary under the new Prime Minister, Andy Burnham.

Cooper praised Starmer for leading the Labour Party for six years, saying it was an unusual achievement in today's fast-changing political world. She also said Labour had faced what she called an 'existential crisis' — meaning a threat to its very survival — when Jeremy Corbyn led the party. Corbyn now sits in Parliament as an independent MP. Cooper felt that Starmer deserved credit for bringing the party back from that difficult time.

But Cooper was honest about problems during Starmer's time as Prime Minister. She said, 'I don't think we've done Government very well in the last couple of years.' She pointed to real wins, like putting 3,000 more neighbourhood police on the streets and cutting NHS waiting times. Even so, she felt the government lost its focus and that early plans called 'missions' faded away after the first six months.

Cooper described Starmer's leadership approach as a 'bring me solutions, not problems' style. This meant he liked to be the one to announce big new policies, even if he had not been closely involved in creating them. Cooper used immigration reforms as an example, saying she could stand at the front during the launch, but the Prime Minister would take the lead — even though he had not helped develop the policy in detail.

Cooper said the contrast with Andy Burnham is very clear. Burnham has driven social care reform himself because he deeply cares about it, and he has brought Cooper fully into that work. He asked her to speak at events, join discussions about problems, and help shape the plans from the start. Cooper said this felt like a different and more open way of working together.

Cooper also said Burnham connects well with people through social media, making it easy to see what he truly cares about. She noted that he is older and more experienced than when he left Parliament in 2017, having spent nearly ten years as Mayor of Greater Manchester. On a personal level, Cooper admitted it was both exciting and frustrating to move from foreign secretary to Health Secretary in Burnham's reshuffle. She said joining the health department brought 'an amazing set of opportunities,' even though she had to leave other important work behind.