Keir Starmer’s party must stop the bile-filled civil wars – and wait for the IOUs sprayed out by the Tories to be called in
Labour is doing what Labour does best after a defeat: picking itself up, dusting itself down and starting all over again by knocking the living daylights out of itself. Since last Friday’s disastrous result in Hartlepool, blame has been scattered in every direction as bile-filled civil wars resume. Whatever happened, Keir Starmer appearing to scapegoat Angela Rayner with a bungled fire and re-hire was a bad response. As ever, Labour’s most divisive faces have reemerged: blaming Jeremy Corbyn, blaming Tony Blair. “Advice” pours out: Andy Burnham says the party has lost “an emotional connection with people”. A Tory focus group finds that voters think Labour is “too concerned with itself”. Spot on.
Overall, the results of the local elections give the Tories 36%, with Labour on 29%, only a bit better than the 12-point deficit it lagged by in the 2019 general election. All Labour’s fault? Hardly. Consider this: there will never again be such a golden election-winning moment for Boris Johnson, this great charlatan of a salesman, getting credit for vaccination liberation as the country explodes with optimism. Labour never had a chance against the country’s soaring growth predictions, a house price boom that is gushing cash to homeowners, ready to spend the billions extra that some households have saved during the pandemic, and here comes the return of travel and hugging. You need only look at the frisson of an election-week naval standoff in Jersey to see that Brexit is still Labour’s killer, analysts warning it still under-pins that avalanche of Tory votes.
