Keir Starmer was announced as the new Leader of the Labour Party on Saturday and Angela Rayner was elected as The Deputy Leader of the party.
The election of Keir Starmer should come as welcome news to Labour supporters as he is likely to boost Labour’s chances of winning the next general election. Also, the coronavirus crisis, while an obvious tragedy, provides the opportunity for Keir Starmer to demonstrate his leadership skills, his ability to hold the government to account and his political nous. However, moving forward Keir Starmer will find it difficult to unite the party and to forge a foreign policy regarding the EU that appeases both Leave-voting Labour supporters and Labour supporters and MPs sympathetic towards the EU.
Keir Starmer has shown a capacity for leadership both during the leadership campaign and immediately following his leadership victory. He has been bold in emphasising his desire to rid the Labour party of anti-Semitism and in acknowledging the need to change the party moving forward if it is to win a general election. He has also demonstrated his political competence in recent years, especially as Shadow Brexit Secretary, and can lead an effective opposition that will rigorously hold the government to account and keep it on its toes. His show of leadership and competence, if sustained, could be enough to create the image of Labour as an effective party fit to govern the country. Yet, the challenge for Keir Starmer will be selling the party’s popular policies while avoiding the negative media attention that Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell attracted when proposing similar policies.
Of course, the announcement of Keir Starmer’s victory takes place during the current coronavirus crisis. Yet, contrary to James Forsyth’s suggestion that the coronavirus crisis may overshadow Keir Starmer’s leadership victory and his subsequent 100 days as leader, the coronavirus crisis could play to Keir Starmer’s advantage. Although an obvious tragedy for everyone, the crisis provides an opportunity for Keir Starmer to demonstrate to the public that he has the skills to be the Prime Minister and that the Labour party is competent enough to be in government. Throughout the following weeks, the opportunity is there for Keir Starmer to demonstrate his leadership skills, his ability to constructively criticise the Government and hold it to account, and his political nous by producing sound policies that will help to tackle the coronavirus crisis and help produce an exit strategy. Indeed, he has already taken advantage of this opportunity. For example, his article in The Sunday Times yesterday provided wise comments regarding the coronavirus crisis, such as the need to ramp up testing, to have a vaccine programme in place, to ensure that NHS staff have the proper equipment and to ensure that the government produces and publishes an exit strategy. These comments show foresight and are welcome in the fight against the coronavirus crisis.
However, as mentioned, Keir Starmer does face some key challenges. He will inevitably struggle to unite the party, despite his claims he can do so. For any large political party, the Labour party included, it is difficult to ensure everyone is consistently on message and to tame internal critics. As well as this, Brexit will continue to cause problems for the Labour party, even under Keir Starmer’s leadership. Keir Starmer, and his new Shadow Foreign Secretary, Lisa Nandy, are sympathetic to the EU project and will no doubt want to maintain close alignment with the EU moving forward. It remains to be seen how Keir Starmer can forge a foreign policy regarding the EU that appeases both Leave-voting Labour supporters and Labour supporters and MPs sympathetic towards the EU. Although one would assume that the Labour party has learned its lessons since Brexit and the recent general election, it seems unlikely that Labour members and MPs sympathetic to the EU will easily give up the argument for close alignment anytime soon.
Come what may, Keir Starmer looks set to lead an effective opposition that will hold the government to account for the remainder of Boris Johnson’s premiership. And, worryingly for the Conservatives, it does seem that Keir Starmer has the personality and intellect to win the support necessary to propose a serious challenge to them during the 2024 general election.
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