Sir Keir Starmer has admitted the government hasn't 'done enough to offer hope' in new comments following Labour's devastating local election results.
On X, he wrote: 'It's important we reflect and respond to these results - we haven't done enough to offer people hope for the future. In the coming days I'll be setting out the path ahead.'
This 'path ahead' is part of a 'reset' the Prime Minister previously alluded to, though the full details remain to be seen.
However, the first signs of this new direction were revealed following the announcement former prime minister Gordon Brown had been brought back into government. Brown, who served as PM from 2007 to 2010, will become the Government's special envoy on global finance.
A Downing Street spokesman said: 'Keir Starmer said yesterday he would set out the next steps in his plan to build a stronger and fairer Britain in the coming days. He has also appointed Gordon Brown as the Prime Minister's Special Envoy on Global Finance. The PM has committed to boosting the country's security and resilience. In this role, Gordon Brown will advise on how global finance cooperation can help to achieve this.'
Before that, Starmer announced that Baroness Harriet Harman has been installed as his new adviser on women and girls, tasked with 'eradicating structural misogyny'. The former deputy prime minister has been instructed to bring about 'cultural change'.
In response to the appointments, Starmer said: 'I want women to have the opportunities that they deserve. I want to be able to tackle misogyny, I've made commitments on this and Harriet working with the team is the absolutely right person to do that. So, it's very future-looking, because this is about making sure that every woman has the opportunities that she deserves. And so Harriet will lead on that work, working with the Cabinet, working with the team.'
'For Gordon, obviously, one of the big challenges we face is global finance. The war in Iran is causing real problems, economic impact. We need more spending on defence and security, that needs to come together around international mechanisms, and Gordon's got a track record on that, and so that is building the strong economy of the future.'
'So, on both fronts, they are very future-looking roles. They are vital to how we strengthen our country and take it forward, and provide the opportunities that give people that hope for a better future.'
Alun Davies, a former Labour Welsh Government minister who lost his seat in the Senedd, compared Brown's appointment to 'moving chairs on the Titanic'. In an interview with Sky News, he said: 'It's pointless. It's irrelevant. That isn't why people weren't voting Labour this week.'
Labour lost more than 1,400 seats in the local elections, one of the party's biggest defeats on record.
