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For Sir Keir Starmer, apologising is becoming an unwelcome habit.
The prime minister has stood up multiple times in the House of Commons — and during numerous press conferences — to apologise for his appointment of Lord Peter Mandelson as ambassador to Washington.
After nearly two years in power, Starmer’s declarations of remorse have become frequent enough to echo the gaffe-filled premiership of Conservative Boris Johnson, which he strongly opposed.
Starmer’s list of apologies
February 25 2025: Starmer apologised to Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch in the Commons for information being leaked to the media on defence spending. “I would not be discourteous to you, the leader of the opposition or the House in that way . . . I apologise.”
June 27 2025: Away from the Commons, in an interview with his biographer Tom Baldwin, Starmer said he ‘deeply regret[ted]’ a speech on immigration that referred to Britain as an “island of strangers”, language reminiscent of the late Tory politician Enoch Powell. “I wouldn’t have used those words if I had known they were, or even would be interpreted as, an echo of Powell . . . I had no idea — and my speechwriters didn’t know either.”
November 12 2025: Starmer expressed “sincere regret” over his intervention in the appointment of a Labour donor to chair the new football regulator. “This was an unfortunate error for which I express my sincere regret,” he wrote in a letter to his independent adviser on ministerial standards.
February 4 2026: Starmer told MPs he regretted appointing Mandelson as US ambassador: “I regret appointing him. If I knew then what I know now, he would never have been anywhere near government.”
February 5 2026: At a press conference in Hastings, Starmer said he was sorry to Epstein’s victims: “I am sorry. Sorry for what was done to you. Sorry that so many people with power failed you. Sorry for having believed Mandelson’s lies and appointed him. And sorry that even now, you’re forced to watch this story unfold in public once again.”
March 18 2026: Starmer told MPs that Mandelson’s appointment was “my mistake, and I have apologised for it”.
April 20 2026: As MPs fumed over revelations that Mandelson had failed Cabinet Office vetting, Starmer tried again: “I apologise again to the victims of the paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, who were clearly failed by my decision.”
How Starmer compares to his predecessors
Starmer’s immediate predecessor, Rishi Sunak, apologised to the Commons for appointing Gavin Williamson as a minister without portfolio, after Williamson was accused of bullying.
On November 9 2022, Sunak told MPs: “I obviously regret appointing someone who has had to resign in these circumstances, but I think what the British people would like to know is that when situations like this arise, they will be dealt with properly.”
On June 7 2024, Sunak apologised multiple times for leaving D-Day commemorations early. “On reflection, it was a mistake not to stay in France longer — and I apologise,” he wrote on X.
In her short premiership, Liz Truss apologised publicly for the disastrous mini-Budget. The first apology came in an interview with the BBC on October 18 2022: “We went too far and too fast. I’ve acknowledged that.” She said “sorry” to the Commons the following day, but insisted the right thing to do was to “make changes . . . and get on with the job”.
Boris Johnson apologised to the Queen in September 2019, after the Supreme Court ruled that his decision to prorogue parliament during the Brexit process was unlawful. On March 17 2021, Johnson apologised for Covid failings and deaths in the House of Commons: “Am I sorry for what has happened to our country? Yes of course I am deeply, deeply sorry.”
He reiterated his apology for Covid failings in the House of Commons on May 26 2021.
Johnson was forced into repeated apologies over lockdown events at Downing Street. On December 8 2021, he apologised to MPs after footage emerged of Downing Street officials joking about a lockdown party. “I apologise unreservedly for the offence that it has caused up and down the country, and I apologise for the impression that it gives.”
On January 12 2022, Johnson apologised for the Downing Street parties that broke lockdown rules, telling MPs: “I bitterly regret it and wish that we could have done things differently.” Downing Street also apologised publicly to the Queen over parties held on the eve of Prince Philip’s funeral.
When Sue Gray’s initial report into the parties was published on January 31 2022, Johnson told the House of Commons: “First I want to say sorry. I am sorry for the things we simply did not get right and sorry for the way this matter has been handled.” In April 2022, he apologised again for Downing Street parties, after being issued a fixed-penalty notice by the Metropolitan Police.
On July 6 2022, Johnson apologised to MPs for appointing Chris Pincher as the Tories’ deputy chief whip, after Pincher was caught up in a groping scandal: “I regret the way the appointment happened . . . I am very sorry for the impact it has had on the victims.”
The apology only went so far: the scandal quickly led to the end of Johnson’s premiership.