It is just 100 days since Sir Keir Starmer was elected Prime Minister with a thumping majority but even figures on the left admit it has been a “disastrous” start.

Labour-backer Unite has accused the PM of being “cruel”, traditionally loyal former advisers have hit out at the lack of grip in No 10 and the party’s MPs have been publicly critical.

One prominent backbencher, Rosie Duffield, was so furious she quit the party with an excoriating attack on the “sleaze” it had become embroiled in.

So where did it all go wrong?

In the first weeks after the election, the new government appeared to hit the ground running.

Sir Keir flew out to Washington just a few days after taking office to take part in the Nato summit.

Thrown into serious talks with world leaders at a time of huge global instability, the Prime Minister appeared comfortable with the burden and on top of the brief.

A press conference held soon after a major blunder by Joe Biden saw him face repeated questioning about the US President’s fitness to serve, but he dealt with the issue without causing any upset in the White House.

Back at home, growing upset on his backbenches about the decision to stick with the Conservative cap on child benefit, which limits it to only the first two children, meant a vote was forced.

Sir Keir comfortably won and to maintain party discipline, booted out the seven rebels who went against him.

But the problems set in shortly after with an ill-fated announcement by Rachel Reeves.

The Chancellor told the public she had discovered a £22 billion black hole in the public finances that needed to be filled immediately.

Ms Reeves said she would find £1.4 billion of that by stopping the winter fuel allowance immediately for 10 million pensioners, with only the very poorest still eligible for the payment of up to £300.

The decision was met with a mixture of fury and fear as charities warned that around two million older people on the breadline will be left struggling to make ends meet.

Experts have warned that there are significant concerns about the impact sitting in a cold home can have on a person’s health, including a higher risk of heart attacks.

The plan brought together some unusual bedfellows, with trade unions, the Green Party and many Labour MPs as fiercely opposed to the changes as the Conservatives and Reform UK.

Tories claim Labour were planning to make the drastic cut all along as it did not commit to maintaining the payment in the election manifesto despite previously doing so.

The government denies the accusation and said the state of the finances meant that it had no option but to draw up the plan, which was announced three weeks after taking power.

In the dossier published by Ms Reeves laying out the need to claw back cash, the biggest item in the financial “blackhole” was £9.4billion to fund inflation-busting pay rises for millions of public sector workers.

The Chancellor went on to admit taxes will have to rise in the budget despite Labour denying it would do so 50 times during the election.

A summer dominated by rioting triggered by the horrific slaughter of three little girls in Southport – Elsie Dot Stancombe, Alice da Silva Aguiar and Bebe King – saw the former director of public prosecutions take a hardline approach to the “thugs” involved.

As the unrest was brought to an end the government had a brief period of quiet until details began to emerge about the scale of donations made to key Labour figures by peer Waheed Alli.

The millionaire TV mogul picked up the bill for the PM’s designer glasses, suits and, perhaps most baffling to many voters, dresses for Lady Starmer.

Lord Alli was briefly given a Downing Street pass and reportedly made recommendations on some public appointments.

He covered the cost of work clothing worth £12,000, accommodation valued at more than £20,000 and glasses valued at £2,485 for Sir Keir.

Labour’s manifesto claimed the Conservatives had fuelled a “widespread belief that many politicians are in it for themselves”.

Sir Keir promised a clean-up that ensured the “highest standards of integrity and honesty” with MPs that “focus on serving their constituents”.

But the PM was given the nickname “free gear Keir” after records showed he separately accepted nearly 40 sets of free tickets during his time as Labour leader, mainly to football matches.

As the spotlight turned on the freebies taken by the rest of the Cabinet, ministers struggled to defend the situation other than to insist everything had been declared within the rules.

Bafflingly, just when the issue began to die down, the Prime Minister decided to repay £6,000 worth of donations, pushing it back into the headlines.

It caused confusion about why he was handing over cash for some of the donations but not all and questions about whether his Cabinet colleagues should follow suit.

Warring internal factions added to the sense of chaos, with Sue Gray – the former civil servant who investigated Boris Johnson over Partygate – finally being forced out last weekend, replaced by rival Morgan McSweeney.

John McTernan, who served as Sir Tony Blair’s political secretary, said the Government had “completely lost grip” and was “delivering drift” rather than change.

New Labour architect Lord Mandelson admitted the preparation for government carried out by Sir Keir and his team “wasn’t done to the extent or in the way it should have been”.

Actor Stephen Fry, a former high profile Labour-backer, said the first 100 days had been “disastrous” and it was a mystery how the party got “into this mess”.

Polling this week showed a record 44-point drop in Sir Keir’s personal ratings compared with the post-election high.

Downing Street said in the first 100 days the government has launched Great British Energy to make cheaper and greener power, ended strikes, introduced new rights for renters, new employment rights and would be holding a budget for “growth”.

No 10 insists the “entire government” is focused on the mandate for change it secured at the general election.

“The work is continuing,” the spokeswoman added.