Keir Starmer's Start in Labour

It has been three months now since Sir Keir Starmer took over as Labour leader, and few

could have imagined the reality of these first few months when the leadership campaign

first started. However, despite the unprecedented situation in which he has had to find his

feet as Leader of the Opposition, Starmer has won many plaudits for his empathy and

maturity. He supported the Government in the early stages of the crisis, offering his help to find a consensus with Boris Johnson, but since the early stages of lockdown and national unity he has become increasingly critical of his opposite number’s decisions, with his forensic style at Prime Minister’s Questions almost always leaving the Prime Minister worse off than himself.

However, it has not always been easy for Starmer. Despite his pledge to and swift action on tackling anti-Semitism within the Labour Party, figures on the left of the party were unhappy when he sacked Rebecca Long-Bailey from his frontbench for sharing an article containing anti-Semitic conspiracy theories, accusing him of a “purge” of the left, despite campaigning during his leadership bid on a policy platform not too dissimilar from Labour’s last manifesto. He was also criticised for calling Black Lives Matter a “moment”, before saying that he regretted his choice of words and that he meant it to mean a “defining moment”. Finally, he has been accused of being quick to hold the Government to account but is yet to announce any policies of his own, something he said was not as important given that a general election is not due for more than four years.

Nevertheless, Starmer’s first few months have been kind to him. Labour has closed the gap in the opinion polls after their dismal election result, and one poll shows that he would be preferred as Prime Minister by more people than Boris Johnson, who has damaged his reputation through his handling of the pandemic and failure to sack Dominic Cummings. More importantly, Starmer seems to have the party’s backing and does not put off voters in the way that Jeremy Corbyn did, so perhaps the end of the tunnel is in sight for Labour after ten long years of electoral misery.

James Gordon