All change at the top as Labour shoots itself in the foot. Again.
It looks like the Labour party is once again preparing to shoot itself in the foot, seemingly because the current Prime Minister is boring.
It's true that Kier Starmer lacks the charisma of... well... cold rice pudding, but after the clown car politics of the previous 14 years of Tory governments, I'll take boring and beige over braying and backbiting.
How do you solve a problem like Kier?
It may be an unpopular opinion, but I think Kier Starmer is exactly what we need after the cavalcade of clowns that came through the revolving door of the Tory HQ since David "call me Dave" Cameron took a punt on the UKs future to solve an internal Tory dispute and then legged it, leaving the keys to number 10 in the hands of "strong and stable" Theresa May.
May managed to keep hold of the poisoned chalice of Brexit planning for 3 years before being usurped by Boris Johnson (AKA BoJo the Clown) and his "Get Brexit Done" sloganeering (despite, let's remember, him being vocally very pro-EU not all that long before he had his shot at the big job).
Three years of his literal clown show and risible COVID response saw us briefly — oh, so briefly — in the hands of "Lettuce" Liz Truss, who promptly torpedoed the UK economy, killed the Queen1, and handed over the reins to Rishi Sunak, of whom I will say little2.
Is it any surprise that after the theatrics and barracking of that lot, an eminent barrister, human rights lawyer, and seemingly decent human being seems dull and plodding by comparison?
It was never going to be an easy ride given the mess that was left to clear up, and what we need is a workmanlike attitude and a determination to get the country back on track, bit by bit, stone by stone.
Yet now we are seemingly going to jump back on the merry-go-round and change things up again.
Great.
Why is there a call for change at the top?
One significant problem is that the UK electorate has a distinct penchant for simple, fast solutions to huge, slow, complex problems.
We have been given endless Three. Word. Slogans.
We have been distracted by demagogues whipping up rage against desperate people in boats (who we couldn't send back because... Brexit) and a flurry of roundabout painting and the raising of cheap Chinese-made flags on every other lamppost.
And, let's be fair, the Labour government have done an absolutely terrible job of communicating their successes and the execution of their policy agenda, or challenging their opponents meaningfully on policy or character.
So of course the answer to that is to change the person at the top right in the middle of their first term in office, having secured a significant majority and a public mandate!
But he's bland...
He's beige in human form, yes.
And he hasn't miraculously fixed the effects of 14 years of under-investment in critical services in 2 years — without raising taxes, obviously — because it's got to be easy to fill that famous budgetary black hole through "simple" decisions, right?
I know that people are feeling the pinch in a very real way, but the truth of the matter is that the current Labour government didn't create this problem.
The 2008 global financial crash did.
14 years of consecutive Tory governments did.
The COVID-19 pandemic did.
Donald Trump's tariffs did.
If there were easy answers, quick solutions, or fabulous options to ensure prosperity at the flick of a policy-makers pen, don't you think they would have taken them?!?
So why now?
We are, sadly, addicted to short-termism and used to shiny-suited showmen promising the impossible. We want everything now, at no cost, and with no hard trade-offs.
That and the "first past the post" (FPTP) system which has kept the pendulum of two-party politics swinging from right to left and back again in the UK for decades make it very difficult for any party coming into power to show significant progress within a fixed 5 year electoral cycle, so people who don't see meaningful change, are confronted by rising bills, and are told that the Labour government are weak will be more likely to vote for something different in 3 years time rather than giving them the time and opportunity to make a real, lasting difference.
Let's be honest here - that "something different" won't be the Conservative party after the absolute beasting they received in the last general election and the subsequent defection of many of their dwindling number, and it's unlikely to be the Green party on a national scale, depite thier current upswing in popularity. The Liberal Democrats are picking up again after the mauling they took as a consequence of the ill-fated coallition with the Conservatives, but as much as Ed Davey's stunt-driven PR antics may try to bring real issues into focus through a slightly wacky lens, they end up coming across as unserious.
So I guess it's time to speak the name of the beast - Reform UK Ltd.
Anyone who knows me will know that I am not a fan of right-wing politics in general, and right-wing popularist grifters in particular.
I have spoken of shiny-suited showmen and the appetite for simple solutions - that is Farage's gig. Completely, and intentionally.
Reform have no real, credible policies, and no policy-making experience — apart from the increasing line-up of Tory defectors now bolstering their ranks.
They are led by a man who has shamelessly exploited the system to fill his own pockets and build his personal brand, and they do seem to attract a certain type of individual — I am sure there are some genuinely nice people who support Reform, but I don't think they quite grasp how much their policies (such as they are) will hurt normal working people in the UK.
But that's the challenge - to show them something to believe in, to show that Labour can deliver and are delivering meaningful change, and to show that Reform are not, in fact, their friend or saviour, and really not "something different" at all.
Who's going to step up to replace him?
Wes Streeting? Lacks gravitas. I can't see him successfully leading the charge into the next general election.
Angela Rayner? Might be a bit of a stretch given the drubbing she has received from the popular press, plus, you know... she's a woman!3
Andy Bunrham? Seems most likely given that he now has a route to Westminster via Makerfield and seems to be the golden boy du jour thanks to his successful stint as Mayor of Manchester.
Will any of them be able to do a better job?
On policy, probably not.
On personality and communication, we can only hope so!
Footnotes
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Not literally, but the timing was suspicious... ↩
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He's short, you see. Little. Comedy gold! ↩
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We still seem to be plagued by an electorate that can't seem to see a woman in the top role, and certainly not an outspoken working class woman with real, lived experience to contribute. I know that Therea May did actually get elected, but that feels like a historical aberration and somewhat inevitable after Cameron turned tail. ↩