100 days after the 'loveless landslide' it's so far, so familiar

They promised change - but after 100 days in power, politics feels much the same under Labour as it did under their predecessors.

Power struggles in Downing Street, rows over freebies for MPs and, crucially, cuts to public spending that will affect the most vulnerable people. It all feels quite familiar.

"Changing a country is not like flicking a switch," Keir Starmer told the country in his first speech as Prime Minister on July 5. Of course, he was right.

READ MORE: The Tories know they screwed up some stuff - but there is one glaring omission

No one is under any illusion about the tricky situation Labour inherited, both economically and politically, that would take a while to fix. Prisons were full, strikes were still crippling services as pay disputes remained unresolved and government budgets were running into the red.

All of these thorny issues are now being tackled - and that's no mean feat. But any glimmer of hope that change will be felt any time soon has quickly dissipated.

Hope was already in short supply during the election campaign.

Across Greater Manchester - much like in the rest of the country - voters from all walks of life expressed deep frustration and a lack of faith in politicians delivering on the promises they made.

This was reflected in the result - a 'loveless landslide', as it's been called - in which fewer than two-thirds of voters exercised their democratic right and many of those who did, did so unenthusiastically. A shift in power after 14 years did offer some hope, though.

For the first few days of the new government, it felt like Greater Manchester was at the centre of British politics. Several senior government ministers visited the city-region in their first week in power alone in what they described as a 'statement of intent'.

It probably helps that many of them live here. Four Greater Manchester MPs are now in the cabinet, including Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner, while several others are government ministers or whips, giving the city-region significant sway at the heart of power.

Andy Burnham also found himself back around the cabinet table within days of Labour's win. Speaking to the M.E.N. afterwards, the Greater Manchester mayor said the meeting with Sir Keir - attended by regional leaders across the country - signified a big change.

And he's not the only local politician to remark on a change in relationships with central government. Council sources have told the M.E.N. that, in Labour's first few months in power, their communication with various government departments has vastly improved.

Meanwhile, many local leaders are positive about the legislation coming down the line. The ban on no-fault evictions couldn't come soon enough, as far as some councils are concerned, while some local MPs are particularly pleased about plans for new workers' rights.

The King's Speech, which featured 40 pieces of legislation, was a sign that the new government would waste no time in bringing about change. But trouble was brewing in Labour ranks because of one policy in particular that they were not willing to change.

Long before the election, the party announced that it would not reverse the two-child benefit cap that the Conservatives introduced several years earlier. And despite child poverty campaigners urging the government to change its position, Sir Keir would not budge.

He was ruthless in his response to MPs who rebelled against him. Salford MP Rebecca Long-Bailey was one of seven MPs to be suspended after defying the party whip and has been forced to sit in Parliament as an independent ever since the vote in July.

The following week, the stage was set for another controversial vote - but the row would rumble on all summer. Announcing a series of spending cuts, Chancellor Rachel Reeves revealed that the winter fuel payment would be taken away from millions of pensioners.

She blamed the Tories for leaving a £22bn black hole in the public finances - much of which was made up of pay rises for public sector workers they hadn't budgeted for. She also announced a review of major projects, including the huge rebuild of a Manchester hospital.

The long-promised transformation of North Manchester General Hospital could now face further delays as the government decides whether to go ahead with the scheme. Health secretary Wes Streeting has told the M.E.N. it will happen - it's just a matter of when.

The honeymoon was well and truly over by the end of July when a horrific knife attack which killed three children in Southport triggered riots across the country. While Greater Manchester was not host to the ugliest of scenes that week - which saw a hotel housing asylum seekers almost set on fire - Bolton, Newton Heath and Manchester city centre all experienced violent disorder.

There were false alarms elsewhere in Greater Manchester too, the most notable of which came on a Wednesday evening when police were preparing to respond to more than 100 planned protests and demonstrations across the country. In the end, counter-protesters and anti-racist activists outnumbered those threatening to gather outside immigration offices in Bolton, Cheadle, Wigan and Oldham.

It was a moment when peace conquered hate on our streets. But the events left many people shaken up - and understandably so.

The Prime Minister should also be credited for his part in bringing peace to our streets. He condemned what he described as 'far-right thuggery' and warned that those who took part in the violence - directly, or by 'whipping up' tensions online - would live to regret it.

In a punchy speech, he vowed that those responsible would face the 'full force of the law' - and that they did, with some jailed within days of the violent disorder. But weeks later, other criminals were being released early from prisons which had reached their capacity.

Labour can't be blamed for prisons being full. But it certainly wasn't a good look for the party to be praised by prisoners walking free.

In a speech at Downing Street's rose garden in August, the Prime Minister blamed the riots on 'the state of our country', promising to 'fix the foundations'. But rather than offering the public any hope, his message was, "things will get worse before they get better."

And he was right - at least, when it comes to his own fortunes. A row over freebies for MPs engulfed Westminster when it was revealed that Sir Keir had received more than £100,000 in gifts including football tickets and luxury clothing for him and his wife.

The Prime Minister was not the only MP to come under fire for accepting freebies. Although the gifts he declared over the last five years were far more than any other MP during that period, some Greater Manchester MPs were forced to explain themselves too.

Manchester Central MP Lucy Powell, who is the leader of the House of Commons, came second in the list having declared £40,289 worth of gifts since December 2019. The Labour MP had served as the Shadow Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport for nearly two years and received many of the gifts during that period - but she continued to accept free football tickets after that.

Appearing on Question Time in Ashton-under-Lyne in the week that the freebie figures had been revealed, Ms Powell was forced to defend herself and her colleagues'. "It happens and it is acceptable I think," she said. "What's really important is... transparency."

A few weeks later Sir Keir paid back more than £6,000 worth of gifts and hospitality which he received since becoming Prime Minister. He has now promised to bring forward new guidance on gifts for MPs.

But the damage has been done. Whether or not accepting free football tickets can be equated with any of the scandals that dogged the Tories, the perception that all politicians are the same, which voters repeat time and time again, has only been reinforced by the row.

While all of this was going on in plain sight, there was disquiet in Downing Street. Rival camps were briefing against each other, culminating in the salary of the Prime Minister's chief of staff Sue Gray - which was higher than her boss's - being leaked to the BBC.

The Labour Party conference in Liverpool could not have come at a worse time in some respects. Weeks out from the budget, there was little that the party was prepared to announce, meaning much of the coverage revolved around the various internal party rows.

The climax of the conference, a keynote speech by Sir Keir, was well received by those in the room. The hour-long speech allowed him to articulate his vision for the country, promising that there will be a 'light at the end of the tunnel' after a period of doom and gloom.

But whether it cut through is another matter. And despite the Chancellor promising that there would be no return to austerity, Greater Manchester was left with further uncertainty over the future of major projects including a new railway line to Liverpool.

Some of the uncertainty may be put to rest later this month when the new government delivers its first budget. But Ms Reeves has warned of 'difficult decisions' ahead, hinting last month that some taxes could increase, but promising it won't hit 'working people'.

Meanwhile, there are fears that mooted changes to borrowing rules - which may be needed to fund massive infrastructure projects such as vital transport schemes in the North - could spook the markets and trigger a Liz Truss-style meltdown. Difficult decisions, indeed.

Perhaps the most damning indictment of Labour's first 100 days in power was the departure of one of its most senior officials. Ms Gray, the former senior civil servant who became Sir Keir's chief of staff last year as Labour were preparing to take power, quit last week.

In a statement on Sunday (October 6), she said that she 'risked becoming a distraction'. The Prime Minister's top team has now been reshuffled in a move that the party will hope finally puts an end to the infighting in Downing Street and helps them turn a corner.

Ms Gray, who was particularly popular among metro mayors including Mr Burnham, will now serve as a the Prime Minister's envoy to the nations and regions. A big question for the mayors now is if they will still have a direct line to Downing Street with Ms Gray gone.

But the biggest question is, how did it all come to this?

Labour enjoyed a huge lead in the polls throughout the election and secured a massive majority in Parliament. But within 100 days, its popularity has plummeted and Sir Keir has been forced into a reshuffle at No 10.

The kind of change that Labour promised takes time to deliver - there is no doubt about that. Growing the economy, cutting NHS waiting times and creating a new clean power company to reduce energy costs is not something that could be done in 100 days.

But on the promise to end the chaos of the Conservatives' time in power and restore trust in politics, little progress has been made.