the spectator | 29 february 2020 | http://www.spectator.co.uk 23close to our own politics.’ Those hoping for
early clarification may be left disappointed:
Sir Keir and his team see his leadership as
a five-year project. Expect some strategic
ambiguity in the early stages. They accept
that it will take years to get the party to
where he wants it to be.
Some changes can be made quickly. He
has already promised to give roles to his
leadership rivals Lisa Nandy and RebeccaLong-Bailey (although he has drawn the
line at Jeremy Corbyn).
‘How many of the old shadow cabinet
stay in depends on the size of his lead,’ says
a party source. ‘The bigger the lead, the big-
ger the change.’ Expect fresh faces to be
included as part of a bid to show the party
is moving forward. Bringing back those who
wouldn’t serve under Corbyn would also be a
way of signalling that the party has changed.Next: party organisation. There will be
a move to oust members and supporters
guilty of anti-Semitism. In theory, this ought
to be uncontroversial, but given how high
tensions run in the party, there’s a view that
the EHRC investigation into allegations of
anti-Semitism within Labour could offer
Starmer the necessary cover to take drastic
action. The results of this are expected after
the May local elections.
Corbyn allies are still running the Labour
machine — Jennie Formby as General
Secretary, for example. Sir Keir is under
pressure to clear them out. This will be an
uphill task. There are already reports that
the hard left is digging in and will even
install allies in key roles in anticipation of
his arrival.
An easier task ought to be found in his
team’s hopes to establish an efficient media
operation to take advantage of the Tory
policy of boycotting certain programmes.
When, for instance, Priti Patel was under
pressure this week, a sharp Labour machine
would have been quick to attack and make
hay. Since the 8.10 a.m. slot on the Today
programme seems to be up for grabs for the
foreseeable future, it’s an open goal.
It’s also viewed internally as crucial,
given that the 80-strong Tory majority
makes Labour victories in the Com-
mons unlikely.
In parliament, Sir Keir will try put-
ting forensic lawyerly pressure on a
Prime Minister who dislikes it. But
what issues will he be pressing? It’s
thought he will position himself to the
left of Ed Miliband. Ten pledges he
made this month included a vow to
keep Corbyn’s policy to abolish tui-
tion fees — as well as a programme
of mass nationalisation and a ‘Preven-
tion of Military Intervention Act’ to
end illegal wars.
‘He didn’t need to do it,’ says one
concerned supporter. ‘We’d been told
he wasn’t going to do policy because
he didn’t want to be wedded to any-
thing.’ Others complain that it was a
very Gordon Brown thing to do: make
a rash decision in response to some-
thing your rivals are doing.
Brown might not be far away. The
two men are still close (it was Brown
who hired Starmer as Director of Pub-
lic Prosecutions) and often speak in
private. Starmer has also sought advice
from Sadiq Khan, Labour’s most senior
elected representative.
It’s this appetite for winning that could
separate him from Corbyn. Those who
have worked closely with him say he takes
an interest in polling in a way that Corbyn
never did. ‘Keir wants to be prime minister,’
says a Labour source. ‘He’s focused on that
in a way Corbyn and even Miliband weren’t.
He will react to the country and its needs,
rather than just going on ideology.’T
here’s still a month of the Labour
leadership contest to go but most
MPs have already concluded that
Keir Starmer will win. The shadow Brex-
it secretary has led in every category so far:
MPs, unions and local parties. As the con-
test enters its final stage, polling suggests
the membership agree and Sir Keir will sail
through. His closest rival, Rebecca Long-Bai-
ley, is now seen as a ten-to-one outsider. One
bookmaker is already paying out on a
Starmer victory.
But if the race seems all but over,
the conversation about what he’ll do as
Labour leader is very much on going.
Is he the leader that the party’s mod-
erates have craved to stand up to the
hard left — or a vessel for continuity
Corbynism?
So far, he has tried very hard not
to say. He has managed to attract sup-
porters from both sides of the party,
parading a reputation for pragmatism
to win support from the centre, while
using selective cases from his legal
career to present himself as a cham-
pion of left-wing causes. Most of these
cases he lost, but to today’s Labour
party this isn’t such an issue.
His campaign team has tried to
balance the various Labour tribes.
It includes Simon Fletcher, who has
made a career working for socialist
politicians, such as Ken Livingstone at
City Hall. From the right of the party
he has Matt Pound — formerly of
Labour First, a Corbynsceptic group
that has clashed with Momentum.
His supporters range from un-
ashamed Blairites, such as Ben Brad-
shaw, to Laura Parker, the Momentum
organiser, and to the now-retired Corbyn
cheerleader Paul Mason. Sir Keir has spo-
ken frequently in the campaign of the need
for unity and to move past the internal con-
flicts of recent years. But there’s a sense that
sooner or later, he’ll have to favour one fac-
tion at the expense of the other.
‘Keir is a blank page,’ admits one MP
backing him. ‘No one knows what he will
really do. We’re all just hoping it will beA new angle
What would a Keir Starmer Labour party look like?
K ATY BALLSKaty Balls_29 Feb 2020_The Spectator 23 26/02/2020 10:10