Thursday’s elections were a bloodbath for Labour and a personal humiliation for the PM. Yet Starmer shouldn’t feel too downcast. He’s achieved something no other politician in Britain can currently manage. He’s united the country. In these bitterly divided times, everybody agrees on one thing. Keir Starmer is useless and should go. Left or right, voters agree. Even the ‘don’t knows’ are in no doubt. Bringing the nation together like this may yet prove his greatest political achievement. Possibly his only one.
Naturally, Sir Keir sees things differently. Instead of weakening his resolve, Labour’s catastrophic defeat appears to have strengthened it. He still believes he’s the man for the job and that another three years in Downing Street will somehow win the country round. Labour MPs are frantically plotting to replace him, but Starmer wasn’t worried. He had his political survival plan in place.
If it had worked, it might just have saved his skin. It would also have been disastrous for Britain. Fortunately for the rest of us, Reform leader Nigel Farage has just blown it apart.
So what was Starmer’s grand strategy? Simple. Veer sharply left, to win over backbench MPs, party activists and the unions. That would mean more tax, more spending, more borrowing. More immigration, more Gaza, more Europe. More Ed Miliband banging on about net zero, less Rachel Reeves worrying about the bond market. Or maybe no Rachel Reeves at all.
It would have unleashed even more political and economic chaos, but that wouldn’t have stopped the PM. Starmer will always put party before country, and his own career before everything. Unfortunately for him, Farage has just tossed a very large spanner in the works.
A couple of years ago, Labour viewed Reform UK as its main political threat. Farage was peeling away disgruntled working-class voters across the so-called Red Wall. Many had grown sick of a party run by middle-class graduates obsessed with signalling virtue on issues such as open borders and gender ideology. Farage was the danger. Until suddenly, he wasn’t the only one.
While Reform was the big winner on Thursday, the figure now truly haunting Labour activists is Green Party deputy leader Zack Polanski. He’s hoovering up left-wing votes in former Labour strongholds across London, university towns and northern cities. The Greens are also swallowing Labour’s Muslim support whole.
That’s why Starmer thought shifting left could save him. He hoped it might stem the losses to the Greens. Edging closer to the EU could lure back affluent Remainers too. Instead, it risks making Labour’s problems even worse.
The more Labour panders to the activist left and cuddles up to Brussels, the stronger Reform becomes. Farage is now the dominant force in British politics. He may not yet have enough support to secure an outright majority, but he’s firmly in pole position for the next election.
A hard-left, pro-immigrant, pro-Europe agenda would energise Farage and drive even more former Labour voters towards Reform. Which means Starmer’s lifeline has now been cut.
And Farage may soon claim another victory too. If Starmer falls and Angela Rayner, Andy Burnham or, heaven help us, Ed Miliband takes over, they’ll face exactly the same trap. Move left, feed Farage.
The Reform leader has boxed Labour in completely. He’s sunk Starmer, and may even bury the Labour Party for good. No wonder Farage can’t stop grinning.
