Keir Starmer is once again under fire over his shifting stance on gender, with critics calling out what they see as a major political U-turn. After the Labour leader welcomed a Supreme Court ruling, his past comments quickly resurfaced, prompting accusations of hypocrisy.
Back in 2022, Starmer confidently stated, “Trans women are women.” But just a year later, he adjusted his wording to say a woman is an “adult female.” Then in 2024, things got even more awkward when he claimed that 99.9 per cent of women “don’t have a penis” — which, by his own maths, left one in every thousand who do.
That bizarre stat drew ridicule across the political spectrum. Equalities minister Kemi Badenoch didn’t hold back, declaring, “The era of Keir Starmer telling us some women have penises has come to an end. Hallelujah!”, reported the Express.
Former Labour MP Rosie Duffield, now an independent, also took a jab at her former party leader. “I told you so,” she joked, adding she’d need a different T-shirt with that slogan “for every moment of every day.”
A Labour insider tried to defend the party’s journey on the issue, blaming the confusion on the Jeremy Corbyn era. “This just shows why it was so important that Keir hauled the Labour Party back to the commonsense position the public take,” the source said. “He gradually moved the party from one that took the activist position to a serious, sensible one that protected women’s spaces while allowing for respectful debate.”
But while Labour’s top team may be celebrating the shift as progress, not everyone in the party is on board. Within hours of the statement, some of Starmer’s more outspoken MPs were already pushing back against the ruling and the tone it set — a clear sign that internal divisions remain.
For many critics, it’s not just the stance itself but the constant back-and-forth that’s frustrating. Voters are left wondering where Labour really stands — and how much of the positioning is political rather than principled.
With the general election on the horizon, these moments are likely to keep haunting Starmer. And while some are applauding him for steering the party back toward what they call “commonsense,” others say he’s still not offering clarity — just more confusion wrapped in careful wording.
