It’s the nicknames that say it all – “Free Gear Keir” and “Two Tier Keir” – representing so many missteps for the new Prime Minister as he reaches his first 100 days in office today. From alienating our global allies to punishing our older generations, there is little Sir Keir has not mishandled. From a government of service to one of “self-service” that cynically times bad news to coincide with grim anniversaries, he is truly a poor leader.

Was it just coincidence or did the Prime Minister rid himself of his gaff-prone chief of staff, Sue Gray, just as the world’s attention was focussing on the heartbreaking anniversary of Israel’s October 7? One would like to think better of a man who, in opposition, prided himself on his virtue and promised a Labour government that would do politics differently, only to be mired in a succession of freebie revelations that peaked at over £100,000.

Of course, he’d done nothing wrong in receiving these donations but, from a party who doggedly went after Boris Johnson and other Tory leaders over the most minor infractions, it seems a bit rich and reveals Labour as keen on the trinkets of power as anyone else. As George Orwell concluded in Animal Farm: “The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.” They all have their snouts in the trough.

But it is the more substantive issues that have marked Sir Keir as a poor leader. He immediately squandered any electoral goodwill by taking away the Winter Fuel Allowance for millions of older people. Wanting to prove he could be tough on government expenditure, yet at the same time agreeing to millions of pounds in public sector pay rises, to already well-paid workers such as train drivers and doctors, only to claw some of it back from some of the most vulnerable people in society.

Again wanting to look tough, Sir Keir cracked down on anti-migration rioters with long sentences, even for those just commenting on social media. This, at the same time he was releasing thousands of convicted criminals early from jail, some of whom promptly re-offended. It gave the appearance that Sir Keir was using the law to punish people he didn’t like while going easy on others.

Having promised to do away with the “gimmick” of Rwanda deportations, Sir Keir has done little to stem the tide of illegal migration with numbers relentlessly rising under his premiership. Last Saturday, almost 1,000 migrants crossed the Channel on the day a two-year-old boy was trampled to death in a boat. The Home Office said 973 asylum seekers were detected in 17 dinghies – a record for 2024 and the highest daily total since November 2022.

Meanwhile, figures out this week say the UK has the most illegal migrants in Europe – some 740,000 – more than France or Germany. This comes at the same time as a report shows that one in 50 illegal migrant Albanians are in UK prisons.

Overall, Britain’s population has leapt to 68.2 million thanks to a record surge in legal immigration. The rise of one per cent is the biggest since records began in 1971 and puts tremendous pressure on our transport, schools, NHS and housing, especially as most migrants are low skilled and do not contribute more than they take from our social benefits system. Yet the PM seems oddly unconcerned.

On the world stage, Sir Keir’s clunky decisions have done little to improve our global status. Imposing weapons embargoes on Israel while saying he stands by the embattled country is baffling. While giving away the Chagos Islands to a country with little historic interest in them is doing little to discourage China’s expansion in the Indian Ocean, and spurring others to call for the return of the Falklands or Gibraltar.

He’s even managed to alienate his trade union backers by pushing for an extreme version of Net Zero that is costing thousands of jobs.

All in all, it’s little wonder that Sir Keir’s popularity has plunged to minus 36, his worst rating since 2021. In one recent poll, Labour is just one point ahead of the Conservatives. Tory party members were surprisingly chipper at their recent conference, bearing in mind their catastrophic electoral defeat, probably thinking that Sir Keir’s terrible performance bodes well for them in 2029.

But they need the right leader and the current front runner James Cleverly is offering little red meat to unite the right. With Reform currently picking up support from Labour voters in council by-elections, it would be remarkable if Calamity Keir managed to pull off re-election simply because right-leaning voters are split.

Certainly, based on his first 100 days, the PM would not deserve it.