Starmer resignation sparks call for countryside policy reset

Rural groups have urged Labour’s next leader to reset relations with the countryside after Sir Keir Starmer announced he would stand down as prime minister.

Sir Keir’s decision follows days of pressure from Labour MPs, including cabinet ministers, after Andy Burnham’s return to Westminster.

His resignation comes less than two years after Labour’s historic general election victory, which saw the party win a record number of rural seats.

A leadership contest is now expected, with Mr Burnham among the leading contenders to succeed Sir Keir.

The Countryside Alliance said the change in leadership should give the government an opportunity to rethink its approach to rural communities, farming and countryside policy.

In a statement, the organisation said: “This was undoubtedly a hard decision for the prime minister to make and we wish him and his family well for the future.”

The group said Sir Keir had promised to renew “the bond of respect” between the countryside and politicians after 14 years in which Labour had struggled to win support in many rural areas.

It said many rural voters gave Labour “the benefit of the doubt” at the general election, helping the party secure rural constituencies, in some cases for the first time.

But the Countryside Alliance claimed that relationship had been damaged soon after Labour entered government.

It said Sir Keir’s government had launched an “astonishing attack on the countryside” through the implementation of what it called the “family farm tax”.

The organisation said the policy had caused “untold pain and anxiety for farmers” and was “plainly, bad politics”.

It also said taxes on rural businesses and policies affecting trail hunting and game shooting would place further pressure on an already fragile rural economy.

The Countryside Alliance described those measures as “toxic culture war policies” and urged the next administration to consider a change in direction.

The Country Land and Business Association (CLA) also said the leadership change should mark the start of a wider rural reset, with farm taxation and business confidence at the centre of any new approach.

CLA President Gavin Lane said: “A change in prime minister must mark the beginning of a rural reset.”

He said the next leader should deliver “an ambitious plan for the rural economy” that backs investment, supports businesses and restores confidence across the countryside.

Mr Lane said such a reset could not happen without reversing inheritance tax changes affecting farms and family businesses.

“Only a full reversal will unlock the confidence and investment needed to realise the full potential of the rural economy,” he said.

He added that the government’s relationship with the countryside had been “strained over the last two years”.

However, Mr Lane said Defra Secretary Emma Reynolds and Labour MPs representing rural communities had “engaged constructively” with the CLA’s concerns.

He urged the next prime minister to build on that engagement and “deliver the change rural Britain needs”.

The Countryside Alliance said “‘Change’ does not start with culture war in the countryside and a return to the mistakes of the past”.

It added that it stood ready to work with the next government to support rural communities and the wider countryside.

Together, the statements add to pressure on Labour’s next leader to repair relations with rural voters and reconsider policies affecting farms, family businesses and the wider countryside.