When Sir Keir Starmer took the reigns as Leader of the Opposition in April, most polls had the gap between Labour and the Conservatives at over 20 points. Just two months on, that gap has shrinked to around six. So what has changed in the Labour Party and what does this mean going forward?
I think it’s fair to say that Jeremy Corbyn lost last year’s election as much as, if not more than, Boris Johnson won it. He and his strong left wing ideologies made him and his party widely unelectable. This compounded by accusations of anti semitism in the party and the catastrophic collapse of the “Red Wall”, the Party was left in a bit of a state. It was clear that it needed redirection and a leader that people would be able to get behind and so the election of Starmer as leader seemed to be a step in the right direction.
The first challenge was reshuffling the shadow cabinet. I, like many others, was unsure as to whether Starmer would try to mix and match between Corbyn’s old and his new. But as of yet it is looking good. There’s some familiar faces with the likes of Ed Miliband and David Lammy but also some new ones like Lisa Nandy and Anneliese Dodds. The decision to call for an enquiry into antisemitism in the party also seems to be a positive step. The inference is that the new leader wants to shift away from what Corbyn “built” and back towards the soft left that has proved more successful for the Labour party.
As for Keir Starmer himself, he appears to have surpassed expectations as a leader in these last two months. His experience as a QC has proved invaluable in the Commons, where he’s dismantled Johnson consistently at PMQs, who has struggled without his Conservative majority behind him. Starmer presents a stark contrast between his cool-headed, straight-to-the-point presentation and the showmanship and optimism of the Prime Minister.
What surprised me when I did some background research for this piece, was the variety of work Sir Keir undertook before his political career. After a legal career specialising in human rights, trade unions and the environment, he also oversaw implementation of the Good Friday Agreement relating to policing for five years. Starmer went on to be Director of Public Prosecutions, where he was knighted for “services to law and criminal justice”. Before being elected leader he was Shadow Imigration Minister and then Shadow Brexit Secretary. What struck me reading this is the variety of experience the new Labour leader has to offer, which can only be a good thing for someone hoping to run the country.
It’s worth noting that the gap between the Conservatives and Labour has shrunk due to a combination of Labour’s rebuild but also this government’s incompetence dealing with Covid-19. The pandemic has been an eye opener for many to the fact that, believe it or not, the government is important and important for things other than Brexit. As a result the appeal for a more capable leader has risen and Starmer has arrived just at the right time. Unlike his predecessor, he is electable and presents the public with the chance to make politics respectable again. Of course he still has many questions to answer, particularly on his policies, but now’s not the time for that. What matters to Starmer is that his party is back on course and with his increase in stock and a government seemingly imploding in front of him, who knows what may happen in the years to come.
Written by @musings_of_a_teenage_grandad
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