What has become self-evident is that the Labour Party won certain elections in spite of Keir Starmer's term as Labour Party Leader and not because of Keir Starmer Leadership.
Both friends and foes keep asking: what that the Labour Party actually stand for? Now, Keir Starmer has come up with one word: Modernisation. He says that the Labour Party needs to be modernised to win elections.
What does 'modernisation' mean in this particular case? Can he be more specific?
The most important issue is to define what exactly the Labour Party stands for under his leadership. He is the captain of the ship. The shadow cabinet is his team of officers onboard and the grassroots are his sailors. Do the officers know what the captain wants them to do? Do the sailors know what the captain expects them to do? Where is the ship heading to?
Right after the election, the main complaint was that the party doesn't know what it stands for, that the grassroots don't know what the party stands for and that voters don't have a clue about what the party stands for. Many Labour supporters couldn't bring themselves to vote for anybody else and stayed home in despair. The role of the captain is to lead and this is exactly what Keir Starmer is not doing.
How many hours did the Shadow Cabinet spend criticizing the government? How many hours did the Shadow Cabinet actually spend talking about specific and detailed policies? He came up presumably to get rid of anti-Semitism in the Labour Party. Is that all he has to offer?
Being an experienced lawman, an experienced barrister, does not make you a political leader. Keir Starmer has a one in a lifetime opportunity to make a difference. The obvious question would be: Does Keir Starmer know what he wants to do with the Labour Party?
In 1972, Robert Redford starred in the movie The Candidate. The son of a former Senator got himself elected Senator. On the day when his victory is confirmed, his agent finds him in his bedroom in a state of anxiety and fear. Instead of rejoicing because of his electoral victory, he is absolutely desperate and asks his agent 'What do I do next?' and begs for help because he doesn't know what to do.
Keir Starmer is a good and honest man. He is an experienced lawman. He expresses his opinions openly, but this does not necessarily make him a good political leader. Jeremy Corbyn is a conviction politician, somebody that trully believes what he is saying, but not necessarily a good political leader either.
The rules of the Labour Party dictate that to be a Labour Party Leader you must be a Member of Parliament. This would not allow Andy Burnham to stand for Labour Party Leader. Because of his role as Mayor of Manchester, Andy Burnham was very comfortably re-elected a few days ago. Every leadership change can be traumatic and there are still open wounds caused by the manner of the departure of the previous leader. The Labour Party is now more factional than ever before. The next General Election is due to take place in 2024. There was a reshuffle when Jeremy Corbyn was deposed and there has been yet another reshuffle after the May 2021 Elections. People are going to keep asking: what does the Labour Party stand for? Captain Starmer, what are your orders?
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