In the 15 months since Sir Keir Starmer ascended to the top of the Labour Party, and became Leader of the Opposition, his ratings have consistently plummeted. Why?
There are of course many reasons for this: lack of charisma; no policy ideas; his humiliation of Jeremy Corbyn by kicking him out of the party. However, the one I want to focus on today is simply his absence. In the year and a half since both he and COVID-19 embarked on a mission to be an infectious presence, there have been a number of distinguishable popular political and social movements, dominant news stories, and insurgent debates. Keir Starmer has ensured his absence from every one of them.
Black Lives Matter
Whether you love and support the police, weather you’ve read the leader of BLM is a ‘Marxist’, unless you’re a serious racist you would probably have some sympathy with the messages of the Black Lives Matter movement last summer. Catalysed by the murder of George Floyd, the movement of activists appalled at society’s treatment of black people took hold. In the UK, the debate progressed past police violence and began addressing Britain’s biggest and most heinous act of racism: colonialism, imperialism, and the slave trade.
During times like this, where deep moral questions are being debated in public discourse- broadcast, social media, print- the opportunity is there for the leader of the UK’s only alternative government to take charge of the narrative and put forward some ideas on how to solve these problems. Keir Starmer missed this opportunity.
First off, the Tories were embarrassingly quiet on the whole thing, they know a sizable chunk of their voters were ‘sceptical of the motives’ of Black Lives Matter and didn’t want to upset them. Keir Starmer, Knight of the Realm, could at least have challenged the government on what they thought. Asked what they were going to do about the widespread distrust of the police, and the fear that British racism was getting worse, not better. Instead, he politely took a knee like all the celebs, then went on the BBC to say he had ‘no truck’ with BLMs analysis of police violence against black people.
Those close to him were likely thrilled he had avoided a daily mail headline reading: ‘Keir STALIN backs anarchist BLM group’, but in this act of dismissive ignorance, of distancing himself from a youth-lead, international debate, Keir Starmer allowed others to take his place: celebrities, footballers, journalists- people with good messages, but who were saying the kind of things the Labour leader should have said- that Britain needed to be honest about it’s colonial past, and not venerate those who took part in the slave trade. He could have aimed to tie the debate about British racism to contemporary social issues, presented the stats on the life prospects of young black men in London, such as stop-and-search being nine times more likely to be used on you if you’re black than if you’re white. He did none of these things, and so for that whole media cycle he was at the front of nobody’s mind.
The European Super League
In April 2021, news broke that a collection of obscenely rich Club-owners and investment firms were setting up a new Goldman-Sachs funded European football league, of which twelve founding clubs could never be relegated. Six of the twelve were English, which made the UK the centre of the subsequent outcry and debate. Straight away, Garry Neville lambasted the idea live on air, and was probably the main voice of opposition to the idea throughout the 72-hour saga. However, this was also a major opportunity here for the Leader of the Opposition to land a critical blow and drum up some support.
The ESL was a culmination of everything people hate. It was a cabal of financial firms, directors, and chairmen attempting to steal what was most precious to millions of English people for their own monetary gain, all the while making the game less competitive. Protests and condemnation from pundits, fans, the remaining 14 premier league clubs, and sponsors led to the proposition being halted after just a couple of days. Boris Johnson stepped in and stated he would “ensure it doesn’t go ahead with what is currently being proposed” and hinting at actual legislation to stop it. Keir Starmer, AFTER Boris Johnson has said this, then came out and said he wanted a ‘review’…
Chance missed.
The ‘Super Thursday’ Elections
On the 6th May 2021, a set of elections took place across the UK deciding the Scottish Parliament, Welsh Assembly, English councils, Mayors, Commissioners, and one MP- in the Hartlepool by-election.
Labour lost ground in most councils and, despite retaining a number of regional Mayoralties, were mercilessly punished in the Hartlepool by-election. The Tory candidate won 52% of the vote in the leave-voting seat, representing it’s first ever win in Hartlepool. After a chaotic year and a half since winning the 2019 General Election, Boris was rewarded by the people of Hartlepool who decided to push his Parliamentary majority up from 80 to 81 seats. Following this shocking news, news which had been predicted by polling agencies up to a month previously, Sir Keir missed yet another chance to turn this night into something remotely positive.
Think about what happened straight afterwards. News comes in that the Conservatives have taken another brick from the ‘red wall’, proving the switch from Corbyn to Starmer had, at the very least, no positive impact on results, and the Conservative still had significant room for growth. Boris is immediately pictured smiling triumphantly on the waterfront, his back to the HMS Trincomalee, a Royal Navy frigate built during the Napoleonic Wars.
I’m not going to read too much into this photoshoot. Though I’m sure some Big Brain Guardian columnists have tried to draw a connection between this French-fighting Navy ship and the PM’s sending of the actual Royal Navy to ‘protect’ British waters on election day off the coast of St Helier. This ship is one of the only Hartlepool landmarks recognised by outsiders, so attributing its presence here as some kind of coded symbol is probably a stretch too far and gives Boris too much credit. Though I’m sure Sir Keir is now probably worried that he has too few pictures with Navy Frigates.
The point is that the contrast between Boris and Keir couldn’t have been more obvious. You don’t need to be a super-forecaster or political strategist to see the difference between Labour’s paranoid, focus-grouped reaction to the results and the Tory’s confident and unashamed ease. As soon as the winner was declared, Boris was there. Shouting into the wind about how he was ‘levelling up’ the North, about Free-Ports and ‘aspiration’, promises and commitments to a brighter future. While it’s easy to poke holes in his words (Hartlepool has only ever become further impoverished under Tory-rule), Boris went out and put himself at the centre of a success story.
Contrasted with windswept Boris, Keir Starmer was comparatively dull, uninteresting and, well… depressing. Instead of heading up to the North-West where Labour had won Mayoralties in Manchester, Salford, and Liverpool by landslide margins, Captain Competence instead chose to film a sombre lament from the halls of Westminster. Taking ‘full responsibility’ while attempting to sack his Deputy Leader behind the scenes, and tacitly invoking the ‘long-Corbyn’ theory.
Long-Corbyn:
A half-baked political opinion which says a constituency who voted Labour twice in two years under Jeremy Corbyn had now abandoned Labour under Keir Starmer to vote conservative, because of Jeremy Corbyn.
Instead of blaming his former boss, Captain Forensic could have headed over to Wales, where Welsh Labour had won 30 of the 60 seats in the Senedd. Apparently, this too was out of the question.
Perhaps joining celebrations in the North West, Wales, or even London went against his narrative that the party ‘has a long way to go’ in rebuilding the party that was decimated by Corbyn. Acknowledging where Labour did well would be to endorse the comparatively left-wing Mayors of Northern Cities as he searches for the optimal centrist position on which to beat the Tories. Either way, another opportunity to insert himself into public debate. Another opportunity missed.
Comentários