Keir Starmer responded to Labour’s election crisis by bringing in fresh blood like Gordon Brown and Harriet Harman, announced in a weird video – 20 amused and baffled responses

Keir “Meep Meep” Starmer has acknowledged that the 2026 local elections were a bloodbath for Labour, with the party losing close to 1,500 councillors, mostly, it seems, to Reform UK.

The prime minister said this weekend that “in the coming days I will be setting out our path to break with the status quo once and for all by building a stronger and fairer UK.”

And nothing says “breaking with the status quo” like drafting a former prime minister (Gordon Brown) and former deputy party leader (Harriet Harman) into the team!

Today @Keir_Starmer appointed @HarrietHarman as Adviser on Women and Girls and @GordonBrown as Special Envoy on Global Finance and Cooperation.

— UK Prime Minister (@10DowningStreet) May 9, 2026

Brown will be a special envoy on global finance, while Harman will focus on social and economic improvements for women and girls.

Though you wouldn’t know that from the strange, dialogue-free video Downing Street released on Saturday of Starmer meeting with the two Labour grandees.

Together, we will build a stronger and fairer Britain. pic.twitter.com/AuJHgCWV5d

— Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) May 9, 2026

And people are bemused, amused and baffled by Starmer’s latest move, as well as the framing of the video. Here’s a selection of the responses.

1.

why have they set up a shot so it looks like reeves is officiating their wedding lmao https://t.co/oNU4zmeb95 pic.twitter.com/F8GxEjyPOR

— Ben Smoke (@bencsmoke) May 9, 2026

2.

"Do you, Keir, take this Gordon, to have and to hold, in poll collapse and in council loss, until the next leadership challenge do you part?"

— Ro (@TheHillFool) May 9, 2026

3.

I genuinely think someone in Downing Street has gone mad. https://t.co/ZUNv9CgLbI

— (((Dan Hodges))) (@DPJHodges) May 9, 2026

4.

You’ve had 2 years to build a stronger and fairer Britain. But instead, you punished the disabled, students, pensioners, pub owners, farmers, WASPI women, small businesses. You took a wrecking ball to the economy. You hired Mandelson. No one is buying this claptrap anymore. https://t.co/gkT4maDJun

— James Melville 🚜 (@JamesMelville) May 9, 2026

5.

Deluded. Out of touch. Incompetent. I could go on… https://t.co/mVVmL0HtA2

— Peter Bleksley (@PeterBleksley) May 9, 2026

6.

Anyway this video is completely insane https://t.co/cZrvgwblft

— Owen Jones (@owenjonesjourno) May 9, 2026

7.

*Adam Curtis Voiceover*

In 1994, a group of men made a decision. They believed that if they could just make people *feel* that things were a little bit better, no one would notice that nothing had changed.

They called it modernisation.

Thirty years later, a lawyer from… https://t.co/pe4Vrs8R4W

— Philip Proudfoot (@PhilipProudfoot) May 9, 2026

8.

This is the neoliberal technocrat version of that Hitler bunker scene in Downfall. https://t.co/pe4Vrs8R4W

— Philip Proudfoot (@PhilipProudfoot) May 9, 2026

9.

when Bravo brings back an OG Real Housewife to save a dying franchise: https://t.co/00aOHyhR4I

— Louis Staples (@LouisStaples) May 9, 2026

10.

Every friend who's gone Green told me they'd back Labour if Harriet Harman were given a minor government role. It's a truism that Reform-voting Leavers adore Gordon Brown, whose hostility to globalisation and sympathy with working-class anti-immigration sentiment are legendary. https://t.co/5838mOB2dn

— Jeremy Gilbert (@jemgilbert) May 9, 2026

11.

I have no idea who this is supposed to appeal to. https://t.co/H4pGMIETnN

— Barry Malone (@malonebarry) May 9, 2026

12.

This is honestly the weirdest behaviour. I don’t even know what to make of it. He’s lost the plot entirely. This is bizarre. https://t.co/C9olM1Q7cf

— 🙏🌧🌍 (@godblesstoto) May 9, 2026

13.

He's just trolling us at this point, isn't he??

Wet flannel https://t.co/e1Gx9XWyov

— Gracie💙 (@Gracie_Blue89) May 9, 2026

14.

The TV equivalent of Keir Starmer bringing back Gordon Brown is The X Factor bringing back Cheryl, or Doctor Who bringing back David Tennant, or Big Brother bringing back Farida https://t.co/mwnmPGmEpc pic.twitter.com/39vlYN6rLP

— sᴜᴘᴇʀ ᴛᴠ (@superTV247) May 9, 2026

15.

Two years into the job it’s bizarre Starmer hasn’t got a grasp of comms.

Historic election defeat and he churns this out. Zero political messaging, awkward and staged behind closed doors.

Compare with Mamdani, clear political messaging, charismatic, filmed in the community. https://t.co/XHDxghylli

— Jess Barnard (@JessicaLBarnard) May 9, 2026

16.

Lots of Labour MPs baffled by this decision.

One MP texts: ‘A rerun of noughties politics is one of the reasons why we’re in this mess’ https://t.co/Jr6i8V3qaE

— Harriet Symonds (@harriet_symonds) May 9, 2026

17.

Probably. Worst. Relaunch. Ever https://t.co/Fwyo1SLkKh

— Tom London (@TomLondon6) May 9, 2026

18.

One of the biggest messages coming out of the election was that the electorate’s impatience for change is stronger than ever. I’m not sure that’s the message this conveys https://t.co/lefIhLmnrn

— Luke Tryl (@LukeTryl) May 9, 2026

19.

No words. Don't mean i'm speechless. There are literally no words here. Except 'Gordon Brown' & not really sure how to process that message. https://t.co/3atSpp0Qni

— Tom Mills (@ta_mills) May 9, 2026

20.

This video is like standing on the deck of the Titanic at 23:40 on 14th April 1912 and saying “we’ve got this, she cannot sink”. https://t.co/HWHxxK8xZE

— Vlad Vexler (@VladVexler) May 9, 2026