Earlier this morning (22 June), Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer announced his resignation, following growing calls from within the Parliamentary Labour Party for him to set a timeline for his departure.
For the past two years Starmer has stood at the helm of government following his landslide victory in July 2024, that saw his party make numerous gains in rural areas, resulting in more than 120 rural Labour MPs.
Since that point, however, there has been widespread opposition among rural communities towards many government policies and proposals that have been seen as a “war on the countryside”, such as the Family Farm Tax, which saw tractor protests take place across the country, huge hikes to business rates for rural pubs, plans to restrict game shooting, and the controversial proposal to ban trail hunting, which just last week saw a mass crowd protest outside the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) offices in Westminster.
Rural campaigners have now warned that whoever succeeds Sir Keir as Prime Minister, which looks increasingly likely to be Andy Burnham, must urgently reset relations between government and countryside, and end the “culture war on the countryside”.
Tim Bonner, Chief Executive of the Countryside Alliance, stated:
“This was undoubtedly a hard decision for the Prime Minister to make and we wish him and his family well for the future. After 14 years of his party being politically irrelevant in the countryside, Keir Starmer pledged to renew ‘the bond of respect’ between the countryside and politicians. Many rural voters gave him the benefit of the doubt and the result was a record number of Labour MPs representing rural constituencies, some for the first time in history.
“But sadly, shortly after taking office, Sir Keir’s government launched an astonishing attack on the countryside with the implementation of the family farm tax. The policy has caused untold pain and anxiety for farmers. It was, plainly, bad politics. We’ve seen taxes on rural businesses and toxic culture war policies including a ban on trail hunting and a clamp down on game shooting, all of which will further harm an already fragile rural economy.
“The government will soon look very different and there will be plenty of time for ministers to consider a change of course. ‘Change’ does not start with culture war on the countryside and a return to the mistakes of the past. We stand ready to work with the next government to achieve the very best for our countryside.”
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