By Sam Couriel, Comment Editor
This is an opinion piece. Please feel free to email our section if you would like to share a different perspective.
I’m still a member of the Labour party, so it might be fair to say that I don’t like changing my mind. Frustrated as I am with our current government, I still believe in Labour's fundamental values and its capacity to deliver change. But if the party forces Keir Starmer out now, I fear we will be left with almost nothing to distinguish us from everyone else.
As the Tories quickly learnt last Summer, switching leader every now and then just doesn’t cut it. It projects an arrogance: ‘maybe if we just put a fresh body in, everyone will forget the complete mess that the last one left.’ The British public is not that stupid. People are angry. They want material change. Not optics.
Labour faces a very similar dilemma. Voters are frustrated because they aren’t seeing a clear vision or direction from our government. Yes, communication is part of that – the Renters Rights Act, Employment Rights Act, and lifting of the two-child benefit cap, are just three measures that the Tories would never have touched and that a Labour government can be genuinely proud of. The issue is that they sit in isolation. There is no driving policy narrative that explains what these ideas represent, or where they are taking the country.
That's why Labour is failing, and it needs something bold. Personally, I think rejoining the Customs Union would be a great start. It would take the fight to Farage, challenging him on his Brexit lies. It would indicate an understanding that basically everyone now agrees that dissociating from Europe was a terrible idea. It would project strength on the world stage when the world order looks terrifying. And it could offer a tangible economic boost in a dangerous cost-of-living crisis. Swapping our leader around would do none of that. It would project weakness, not strength.
So what does Labour have left? That it is a serious pair of hands, suited to serious times, focussed on making a gradual but tangible difference to people’s lives. That’s the mandate the party was elected on, and that hope isn’t lost. If Keir Starmer can stand at the dispatch box in August 2029 and say, ‘you might have hated me five years ago, but who else has delivered actual results?’, he might have a chance. If the party descends into the same selfishness, opportunism and factionalism that the Tories showed us, that chance evaporates, and the door is left wide open for Farage.
‘There’s a certain hypocrisy in us all saying we want authenticity in government, and then when someone boring comes along, demanding more charisma.’
All of this is resembled in the Mandelson scandal. No one would have expected this week's revelations, but it was pretty clear to everyone that the man was a dodgy fella from the start. But what were Reform, the Conservatives, the media, and Labour backbenchers all saying when he was appointed? They were endorsing the appointment, because they thought he was a slimy man well placed in a slimy job. Not one MP rose in the Commons to object to Mandelson's appointment because of his links with Epstein.
I also don't recall Johnson accepting wrongdoing when accused of referring to his former chief whip, himself accused of sexual misconduct, as ‘Pincher by name, Pincher by nature.’ Nor does Farage seem especially troubled by the repeat appearances of his own friends in the Epstein files, including his party's treasurer and the literal President of the United States. It was obvious that it was wrong to appoint Mandelson from the get-go, but the whole establishment backed it, until not backing it presented political opportunity. So pinning it on Starmer fixes nothing. The rot is systemic.
This might not read as a ringing endorsement of the government, and that's because it's not meant to be. Labour needs to start leading. That comes through sustained improvements, tied together with a clear narrative. And at a time of misinformation, populism, and AI, the lack of that narrative is blatant. So it’s normal to be angry.
But those calling for Starmer's replacement aren't proposing a substantial solution to the problems at hand. If there was a competing vision coming from within Labour, or a promising candidate for replacement, then I might think differently. But there’s not. Instead, people are making themselves feel better by undermining the very cause that they themselves stand for, rather than rallying behind it. And by the way there's a certain hypocrisy in us all saying we want authenticity in government, and then when someone boring comes along, demanding more charisma.
Sam Couriel
Ultimately, I think we need to look around and think about what we really want in a Prime Minister. Farage is just drowning out his corruption with more scapegoating and more lies. Polanski is dancing at Rizzle Kicks. Labour rebels are posturing to be the next PM. And Badenoch is nothing more than the failure that her party left behind. I can’t help but wonder, is anyone else actually trying to run the country?
Featured image: Unsplash / N R
Do you think the UK's next Prime Minister will be better, or worse, than Starmer?
