Dear John,
It hasn’t yet been a hundred days, and Labour’s polling lead is down to just one point.
While the news may shock some political analysts, the underlying context is clear. Trust in politics in this country is at record lows, and dissatisfaction with politicians at record highs. Britons largely feel that the system is rigged in favour of the “rich and powerful”, and the vast majority believe that our system of government needs improvement.
Starmer’s strategy, so far, has been to pretend that Labour won a 1997 vote share, a massive landslide that gives him a “clear mandate in all four nations.” The reality is that he won less votes than Corbyn did in 2019, and that Labour doesn’t even have any MPs in Northern Ireland. In fact, this July we witnessed the least proportional election in British political history.
The PM, in his rousing 2023 Labour Conference speech, rallied the audience against the “shallow men of Westminster,” attacking the toxic political ecosystem polluting political discourse and decision-making. The public more broadly clearly resonates with that sentiment.
But instead of the overhaul Starmer urged for in that speech, we’ve got next to nothing on democratic commitments. If Labour continues to sit on its hands, the public will keep on regarding politicians as self-serving and corrupt. They’ll keep on fomenting distrust – not helped by silly freebies scandals and abrupt resignations.
Sometimes, a refusal to act is an action in and of itself. Starmer’s naïveté is currently carving a path for Nigel Farage and the far-right to reach Downing St, providing them with the fodder they need to exploit people’s frustrations and protecting the electoral system they need to get into office with a minority of the vote.
The UK’s political decline is not a product of any one government, but rather the water we all swim in. Until the new Government can acknowledge that – and act meaningfully to address it – this country will remain divided, defeated, and disillusioned.
