Keir Starmer’s New Slogan Is Being Called the Worst in British Politics

Keir Starmer is having another go at rebooting his government. This time he stood in front of a union flag and promised to close asylum hotels “as quickly as possible”. He also tried out a new slogan, repeating the words “delivery, delivery, delivery” as if they carried the same punch as Tony Blair’s “education, education, education”.

The prime minister told his audience: “We are now into phase two of the government, which is where we focus on delivery, delivery, delivery and start to show what a difference a Labour government really makes.”

The problem is that while Blair’s line still resonates decades later, “delivery” doesn’t mean anything to most people. It’s not clear what is being promised or even if voters want it. The word itself feels flat, the kind of phrase that doesn’t stick in the mind no matter how often it’s repeated. Some reckon it could be the worst political slogan of all time, reported the Guardian.

The contrast with Blair is obvious. Education is a subject people instantly understand and care about. Delivery just sounds like jargon. And when it refers to things like cuts to benefits, restricting winter fuel allowance, or suspending family reunion applications for asylum seekers, many people actively don’t want it.

Labour peer Alf Dubs, who fled Prague on the Kindertransport in 1939, reminded the government this week that politics should be about morality, not racing Reform UK to the bottom with anti-migrant rhetoric. The Britain that welcomed him, he said, was the kind of delivery worth remembering.

Starmer’s problem isn’t that he’s unintelligent. By all accounts he’s a capable man and once had a respected career as a lawyer. But as a political communicator he seems awkward, heavy-footed and strangely cautious.

His previous attempts at catchphrases — “security, prosperity, respect”, “secure, protect, rebuild”, “another future is possible” — have all been instantly forgettable. Even his effort to borrow the Brexit slogan “take back control” backfired, since the phrase still belongs to those on the hard right, as protests outside asylum hotels have shown.

If Starmer wants to persuade voters, he might do better by leaning into hope and decency rather than empty repetition. Refugees have endured horrors most of us can’t imagine, and Britain has obligations under international law to give them protection.

Migrants also make a measurable contribution to the economy. Studies repeatedly show they pay more in taxes than they take in benefits, and around one in five NHS workers in England is from overseas. A leader making that case could still win back the Labour supporters who feel let down.

But even if he took that path, “delivery, delivery, delivery” would still be a dud of a slogan. It doesn’t inspire, it doesn’t explain, and it risks becoming a joke in its own right. At this rate, critics say it might as well be translated into “populism, populism, populism” or even “utterbollocks, utterbollocks, utterbollocks”.