Labour may now oust Starmer – but is what comes next any better?
WWith enough results from the council elections to show Labor is set for huge losses, Sir Keir Starmer’s critics are already writing his obituary.
The first counts had not yet been completed when Labor rivals such as former shadow chancellor John McDonnell said he should be prepared to leave.
Other Labor MPs quickly joined the ‘Starmer Out’ rally. An uneasy Joe Biden is in danger of inflicting the same damage on Labor as Donald Trump did to US Democrats ahead of his victory in 2024, Labour’s Baroness Hazarika has suggested.
Cabinet minister Ed Miliband has already told the prime minister to prepare to resign, according to a report.
With cabinet colleagues like this… It’s hard to deny that Sir Keir’s days as prime minister are numbered, but the question remains: no one has yet produced even the slightest evidence that any potential successor could do better in terms of policy or personality.
Is it now time for them to set out in detail how any changes would make things better for Labour?
By sacking Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood over her tough immigration policies – as many Left-wing MPs want – when all opinion polls show this is a key concern of all voters, not just those on the Right?
Further watering down Duchy of Lancaster Chancellor Pat McFadden’s attempt to control rising welfare costs, saying claims of widespread benefit waste and abuse are one of the reasons for Nigel Farage’s rise?
By giving greater support to pro-Palestinian protests in the style of the Greens’ charismatic but indecisive leader Zack Polanski, at a time when Sir Keir devoted the early years of his Labor leadership to erasing the taint of antisemitism of the Corbyn years? It doesn’t accumulate.
As for character and personality, does anyone seriously think Angela Rayner, Andy Burnham, Ed Miliband or anyone else would represent an improvement on Starmer in terms of statesmanship or style? I personally don’t want it.
They have failed to live up to expectations in their own political careers in the past; In some cases this is striking.
They will face exactly the same problems as the prime minister on the platter in Downing Street.
Starmer may not set the pulse racing, but for all his faults, he is decent and honest.
And on the biggest call of all, the Iran War, he got it right by standing up to Donald Trump with courage and quiet dignity.
Until Starmer’s successors come up with convincing solutions rather than indulging in petty blame games, Labor MPs plotting his downfall should be careful what they wish for.
