Labour’s Election Disaster Is Keir Starmer’s to Own
Published
by
Richard Kuper
JVL Introduction
Like everyone else on the left we are horrified by Labour’s disastrous performance in England in the recent elections.
But we cannot say we are surprised.
Ronan Burtenshaw’s analysis published in Tribune – that Starmer’s leadership has hollowed out the party, refused to offer a vision for change and left many with little reason to vote Labour – seems a good place to start.
Also see Burtenshaw’s Doubldown News video Keir Starmer’s War on Democracy made earlier this year.
This article was originally published by Tribune on Fri 7 May 2021. Read the original here.
Labour’s Election Disaster Is Keir Starmer’s to Own
Keir Starmer has attempted to blame today’s election disaster on Jeremy Corbyn – but his leadership has hollowed out the party, refused to offer a vision for change and left many with little reason to vote Labour.
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Splendiferous article. I’ve already forwarded it to several friends.
“In these elections, the contortion of telling people what they want to hear but never actually supporting the progressive policies which they want to see reached farcical levels.”
Indeed! Sadly, ‘farcical’ has become such an appropriate word to use in respect of the Labour Party; an adjective I also used in my comment regarding JVP suspensions in Peterborough. Keir Starmer, and also David Evans, in different ways have contributed to the severe decline in the ‘boots on the ground’. Whilst loads of dosh is always a nice thing, even that cannot replace community effort and relationships.
The wasted money paid out to John Ware & Co, and in litigation past is going to be sorely needed –not to mention future, hopefully successful, litigation by LA4J which should be strongly supported.
And Comrade Sir Keir wouldn’t sign the opposition to fire and rehire. Strewth!
I have to admit to evil glee at Starmers appalling showing in the last by elections. Many people denigrated Corbyn but Corbyn was recognizable, one knew what he stood for. It seems that the only thing Starmer stands for is the advancement of Israeli interests. I do not need to criticize Israel to point out that a British Labour Leaders priority must be the British Labour Party not a foreign country in the Middle East. That combined with his utter lack of any significant policies apart from feebly echoing Johnsons every turn has cost him dearly. But will he rethink anything? Doubtful. We will probably have to watch, shuddering in disbelief, as he first blames Corbyn then tries to pursue even more of the disastrous courses that caused his defeat in the first place!
Thank you for always being on the case with insights into events, JVL frends.
Disasters unfolding around Keir Stalin’s cruel dictatorship were predictable – for anyone other than the parvenu great dictator and his circle of wrong ‘uns..
Insightful
Transparent
Aspirational
Concise
Determined
Confrontational
[add a little “Socialism” to those ingredients]
Whoever wrote that article should be in a Labour Cabinet ,lead by a Socialist ready to campaign, agitate, educate and organise. Now where have we heard this before?
This time we need to shout back over the Tory Racist Media and stand up to be counted [Jeremy was too “nice” sometimes] – be prepared.
Starmer is a snake to whom careerists have snuggled up and got into bed with. He will bite anyone when cornered. Even Angela Rayner!
Apologies Angela – but you are joining those of the great unwashed whom Starmer has bullied, jettisoned and suspended. Dont ask for any sympathy. Remember you said you would be prepared to expel thousands of members!
Excellent article!
If ever we are to have a socialist and transformative Labour Party then the myth of “centralist” electability needs to be exposed for the myth it is. These elections are a step along the way.
How many of the PLP are now looking at losing their seats
Now is the time for a challenger to strike
My prediction is that the Red Tories will also put up a candidate and Temporary Embarrassment will stand down
His mission accomplished
On the doorstep in East Barnet, some Labour supporters were refusing to vote because of the way Jeremy had been treated. We lost the seat Mea Culpa SKS.
I listened to John McDonnell on the BBC, as the extent of the election disaster was unfolding and was inspired by his mature and wise analysis of events. Despite the persistent and aggressive questioning aimed at making him openly disparage Keir Starmer, he jovially defended their relationship (“…I worked with Keir on the past, before he became leader. We get on well…) and continually redirected the conversation back to the need to confront the Tories and offer the electorate well thought out alternative policies based on Labour values.
Although I acknowledge this was essentially TV interview waffle, I was nevertheless impressed by how agreeable and statesman-like he comes across. I imagine his head is destined for the block at some point soon, but at least it gives me some hope that the incompetent, corrupt shit show that is currently running the party has someone on the left, inspirational and electable, to take the reins, in the unlikely event that an opportunity arises.
This is a very accurate description of what has gone wrong in the party from which I’ve now resigned and it’s difficult/impossible to see how the situation in the LP can now be turned round.
What we need to ensure, however, is that socialism doesn’t go down the plughole with Starmer and the only way to do that is for socialists to come together to work on a new vision of how we think society should be organised. If we can achieve that, the specific policies we’ll need will pretty much write themselves. This certainly won’t be easy, but we have to do it anyway – if we don’t (and I do mean “we”), nobody else is going to.
It’s a very clear case of chickens coming home to roost. Getting yourself elected leader on a promise of restoring harmony and then launching a witch-hunt against your members and bullying constituency parties is not good PR! And it looks bad to make a scapegoat of your loyal sidekick. Wasn’t it Angela, acting as Keir’s mouthpiece no doubt, who announced that the party might have to expel 100,000 anti-Semites? If, in Keir’s lexicon, “anti-Semite” means Corbyn supporter, that aim seems to have been achieved without Angela having to raise a finger!
Excellent article. It should be printed and posted in every door in the UK.
Starmer is his own worst enemy. Appointing Evans is a disaster. Following Blair Mandelson Allen Johnson Hodge et al a recipe for Disaster.
I did not vote for him. But he has proved a disaster. He is no leader. he is a follower of Focus groups and obeys what his backers tell him to do.
He has no vision. The agenda of alienating and getting rid of descent hard working members and supporters is just plain stupid.
He came into leadership of LP under false pretences. First he said he would stick to his 10 Pledges which were very popular. he said he would unite the party. He did the opposite.
Who are his backers and advisers? They are certainly to the right like old Blairites Mandelson etal. We know who they are. It is they who are the major directors of Labours agenda. Who was it that told Starmer to appoint Evens a Blair supporter> Who adviser using the false agenda of anti sigmatism as the way forward and in the process getting rid of long servicing first class members. It is Criminal.
Starmer has no vision of his own. He was only interested in his own career. Like Johnson with out the buffoonery and total dishonesty.
In that respect unfortunately he maybe getting close.
Sitting on Forde Report and trying to Doctor it. Not facing up to what it revealed about some members MPs in the Labour party.
This should have been addressed on first day. He failed to recognise that future of Labour party was among the Young and idealistic, not in the past old centralists.
Yes Jeromy tried bring about some cohesion by including the right wing in his shadow Cabinet. He was to descent. He should have been more ruthless.
Starmer failed because he never really understood what the so called left meant. He has only been MP for around 6 years. He needed help . So he got help from from the right wing and set about the process of destroying the Base that Corbyn had recognised and supported.
He was a true Labour supporter. the right wing Careerists were only interested in using the Labour party as a vehicle for their own ambitions. They had no understanding or empathy for the people they were supposed to represent.
Can Starmer change direction.? there is no evidence for that. He is likely to continue on the same disastrous course . He has no vision except his own ambition.
Here are some statistics of Hartlepool Labour Votes:
2005 18,251 Blair
2010 16,267 Brown
2015 14,076 Miliband
2017 21,969 CORBYN
2019 15,564 CORBYN
2021 8,589 Starmer – clearly, shambolic from Starmer
The right wing Labour have audacity to blame Corbyn for the disastrous results. And now Raynor has been sacked because the leader is blaming her for the defeat after accepting his own responsibility for the defeat.
I am very much thinking Andy Burnham. I know some judge him as from the centre. To me he leans a lot more to the left and he seems to be proving himself. If their isn’t a big push for him, as leader of the Labour party, from everyone, unions, activist etc, with all the energy that can be mustered, we will have the conservatives for another 20 years, to me that is frightening thought. The right in labour are neolibrales, as are the left in the conservatives, that is the interlock that has to be broken. Boris Johnson is a chameleon, with a right wing fascistic cabinet.
Stop Press: Iron Man ruthlessly sacks Angie. Angie and friends cut up rough. Putty Man reinstates and promotes her. In future he’ll stick to bullying Corbyn supporters. Call that leadership?
This analysis seems exactly right, but one point troubles me: how can Starmer have got this so wrong? He always seemed such a clever man.
Labour had a wonderful opportunity to ‘own’ the vaccine rollout by pointing out it was a triumph of the NHS and local health organisations and comparing it with the dismal performance of the private sector test and trace lot. Instead a strategically clueless party allowed BJ to treat it as his own personal triumph – and people believed him! My NHS ‘vaccinator’ was rightly livid about this.
The internal report must lead to the removal of Red Tories, its been coming for over 40 years, I remember the damage caused by the Gang of Four who kept Thatcher in power
Their betrayal in 2017 and 2019 was the final straw, there is no room for them in a socialist Labour party
The one question which the Labour right won’t ask is: How did Jeremy Corbyn come within an ace of election victory in 2017? – and that after two years of relentless abuse, indeed plots, from the mainstream media, and his own MPs and party apparatchiks.
For Labour to win the next general election, it needs to recreate the ‘Corbyn coalition’ – uniting those who have been ‘left behind’ in the Red Wall, with often younger and more socially liberal voters in the big cities.
To do this, Labour must put a commitment to social justice and redistribution of wealth and the heart of its policies – something which the current Labour leadership clearly has no intention of doing.