Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has promised to “defeat the decline and division offered by others” in his new year message, as he insisted 2026 would see people feel “positive change” in their lives.
He acknowledged “things have been tough in Britain for a while” but said the public should now start to see improvements including lower bills, more police on the streets and new health hubs.
It has been a difficult year for the PM, who has been battling slowing economic growth, poor poll ratings and speculation he could face a leadership challenge.
In her own new year message, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said 2025 had seen “no growth, higher taxes and record unemployment”.
However, she added that Britain was “not destined for decline” and her party’s plan would “back business and fix our economy so we can fund our armed forces, police, schools, NHS and build something that we feel proud of”.
Sir Keir said he shared “frustration about the pace of change” but “the challenges we face were decades in the making, and renewal is not an overnight job”.
He added: “By staying the course, we will defeat the decline and division offered by others.”
The PM promised that over the next year things would “start to feel easier”, pointing to frozen rail fares, prescription charges and fuel duty, as well as increases to the minimum wage.
“In 2026, the choices we’ve made will mean more people will begin to feel positive change in your bills, your communities and your health service,” he said.
“But even more people will feel once again a sense of hope, a belief that things can and will get better, feel that the promise of renewal can become a reality, and my government will make it that reality.”
The Liberal Democrats and Reform UK look forward to May’s local elections in their new year messages.
Both parties are hoping to make gains in the polls, which cover the Scottish parliament and the Welsh Senedd as well as thousands of council seats in England and a handful of directly elected mayoralties.
Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey said his party could “win again in 2026” after “our record-breaking success” in the last local elections.
He vowed to “stop Trump’s America becoming Farage’s Britain” and “change our country for the better”.
Meanwhile, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, whose party has been consistently leading in national opinion polls since last spring, said his party was offering “hope” and “change”, as he predicted May would be “the single most important set of elections between now and the next general election”.
He said the country was getting “gloomier” and “poorer”, with higher unemployment and debt “running completely out of control”.
Farage criticised both Labour and the Conservatives for not understanding the “new world” of cryptocurrencies, AI and digital assets, which he described as “the technologies of growth”.
In a video message shared on New Year’s Day, the Green Party’s co-deputy leader Rachel Millward pledged her party would “do everything we can to stop Nigel Farage getting anywhere near Downing Street”.
In the same message, Millward’s counterpart Mothin Ali said the party had gained 110,000 new members since the summer, adding: “We’re here to replace Labour”.
In his new year message, SNP leader John Swinney said the last year had been “difficult” for some, with “conflict and upheaval” across the world.
The first minister said he would be “toasting Scotland’s famous win against Denmark” to qualify for the World Cup, as well as looking forward to the competition over the summer and the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.