The " New Slatesman" "slates Starmer"

[Colemans Left Hook]

"In recent British political history, there have rarely been more favourable conditions for the opposition to advance. Boris Johnson’s government has presided over a farcical array of scandals, including serial law- breaking in Downing Street. Inflation has reached its highest rate for 30 years (7 per cent) and households are facing the biggest squeeze in living standards since records began. Finally, as the Queen’s Speech amply demonstrated, Mr Johnson’s administration is devoid of anything resembling new ideas.

Yet it is Keir Starmer’s Labour that is now struggling. On 9 May, having devoted much time to demanding Mr Johnson’s resignation, Mr Starmer was forced to contemplate his own. If fined by Durham police for his alleged breach of lockdown rules, he said, he would “do the right thing and step down”.

The Labour leader blames what he regards as a smear campaign by the Conservative Party and the right-wing press as well as leaks from inside his own networks. But it was Mr Starmer’s lack of political agility that left him so vulnerable. As Andrew Marr writes, “under constant media attack, team Starmer allowed half-truths, incomplete stories and small inconsistencies to dribble out… Not so far from the grudging tactics they once accused Downing Street of employing.”

It was nine months ago that the fateful video of Mr Starmer drinking a beer with Labour activists at Durham Miners Hall was first reported in the press. He cannot plead that he was not given advance warning.

Having cast himself as a righteous crusader for truth and justice, Mr Starmer has a duty to ensure that he is “whiter than white” (as Tony Blair once put it). When the Metropolitan Police began investigating the Downing Street lockdown parties, the Labour leader did not pause before demanding Mr Johnson’s resignation (a fact he evaded at his press conference on 9 May). Did it never occur to Mr Starmer that he could also be investigated?

The limits of the Labour leader’s technocratic approach now lie exposed. Oliver Eagleton, the author of a new biography, The Starmer Project, writes: “By acting as a defender of the state, whose rules he would police with righteous pedantry, he was setting himself up to be seen as a hypocrite.”

The same deficiency was revealed by Labour’s performance in the local elections on 5 May, notably in England, aside from London. Despite a remarkably advantageous political climate, Labour gained just 22 seats in England (putting it behind the Green Party, which gained 63, and the Tower Hamlets mayor Lutfur Rahman’s Aspire Party, which gained 24).

True, the opposition was contesting areas last fought in 2018, when it performed relatively well – but this was not the performance of a Labour Party accelerating towards government. Rather, it demonstrates how Labour has failed to win over even an increasingly anti-Conservative electorate. The Liberal Democrats – who many in Labour have dismissed as politically defunct – the Greens, the SNP and independent candidates are attracting voters left cold by Mr Starmer. (The strength of Labour in Wales owes much to local events.)

The Labour leader, a lawyer by trade, has at times prosecuted an effective case against the Johnson government. Now, he is preoccupied with his own defence.

This is an age of crisis that demands bold and imaginative thinking. We face a climate emergency; war in Ukraine is remaking the international order; populists are eroding democracy at home and abroad; health and care systems are under pressure; and the UK is facing two lost decades for living standards.
https://www.newstatesman.com/comment/2022/05/leader-keir-starmer-is-under-pressure



Where are Mr Starmer’s policy solutions? How would he change Britain for the better and bring together the disunited kingdom? Why such timidity? Two years into his leadership, these questions remain unanswered.

Mr Starmer may yet win power by default. Should the Conservatives lose their majority, they will have few, if any, allies in a hung parliament, not even the DUP, who feel betrayed by Mr Johnson. Provided Durham police spare him, Mr Starmer could yet become the accidental prime minister, backed by the Liberal Democrats. But Britain needs – and deserves – more than a cautious, technocratic Labour prime minister. It needs a transformative leader who would use power with purpose.


"

[River Don]

Not an unreasonable assessment.

[drfchound]

Someone will be along soon to argue with your comment RD.

[Branton Red]

Allowing the beergate issue to run and run so long certainly is indicative of a lack of political nous - perhaps a political PR guru needs appointing by the Labour party (or a better one).

Labour's relatively poor showing in non-metropolitan England despite Tory woes shows how mistrusted they and Starmer are after their Brexit response.

This can be overcome to a degree if Starmer can give voters some idea what he stands for and some concrete policy ideas.

Cutting VAT on energy bills and a windfall tax on energy companies were both good, strong ideas - more is needed.

Leaving their political destiny to a surge in support (as in 2017) on the launch of their manifesto campaigning is leaving them a hostage to political fortune.

[wilts rover]

I remember them slagging Corbyn off and telling people not to vote Labour in 2019. Never had much time for them since then.

[SydneyRover]

Go on then Starmer apparently by reasoning of the OP it's your job to fix the mess.

[albie]

Now Labour have fallen out with the local party in Wakefield;
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/wakefield-labour-groups-entire-committee-26958292

When will Starmer and Evans learn to respect local members, this is another entirely avoidable fiasco!

[Filo]

Now Labour have fallen out with the local party in Wakefield;
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/wakefield-labour-groups-entire-committee-26958292

When will Starmer and Evans learn to respect local members, this is another entirely avoidable fiasco!

In a constituency where they hope to win back from the Tory’s, this is a massive own goal, they seem to shoot themselves in the foor everytime!

[Colemans Left Hook]

i came across the odds yesterday and Labour were 8/1 on that means put £8 on to win £1

 

[albie]

Wakefield Labour have issued a statement over the dispute with Starmer over the candidate for the by-election;
https://twitter.com/OwenJones84/status/1525072271982972931

[albie]

Branton,

"This can be overcome to a degree if Starmer can give voters some idea what he stands for and some concrete policy ideas."

Survation have just polled red wall seats on a range of policy options for popularity;
https://www.survation.com/poll-voters-in-red-wall-seats-strongly-back-public-ownership-of-key-utilities/

Subject to the usual warnings about polling indicators, I would suggest that Starmer follows the trail to win back those lost seats.

Not that he will, like!

[SydneyRover]

You'll know soon enough to get your criticism in Albie, in the run up to the election, meanwhile Starmer will try and position labour to be in with a chance.

[drfchound]

But will he be able to put them in a position to have a chance.
Reports of divisions within the Labour Party indicate that will be very difficult.

[albie]

Well Syd, Keith will need to up his game on the piss poor Labour performance in the local elections in England;
https://statsforlefties.com/2022/06/02/le2022-the-great-british-flop/

With his personal ratings among voters showing so low, he needs to be able to offer more than just being "not Boris".

As no policies are being promoted, it is difficult to see anything more than a different management team for neo-liberal continuation.

Incidentally, be very cautious about drawing any conclusions based on polling. Not all polling organisations work to the same ethics or methodology.

As this thread from pollster Chris Curtis shows, organisations like YouGov are not free from bias in the presentation of findings;
https://twitter.com/chriscurtis94/status/1534451799511408641

[SydneyRover]

2 + years to the election Albie, you do want the tories out I take it? coming of an 80 seat thrashing up against all the media in the article you posted yourself plus the bottomless pit of money from big donors, my dosh is on johnson going before Starmer, who'd you put your money on Albie?

[drfchound]

I think that the next GE will have new leaders of the Labour and Tory Parties.

[albie]

Not sure what you are trying to say, Syd.

Of course I want Johnson out. I think that will be well before the next GE, unless he calls a snap election in a panic to try and save his own skin.
He is a corrupt and shallow man, for whom telling lies is normal behaviour to an extraordinary degree.

Trouble is that Labour are in a very poor state under Starmer.
Reduced membership, loss of income from that and trade union support down as well.
Shadow Cabinet of very poor quality, and with no gamechanger ideas on display.

His personal ratings are low with voters, and his record of misrepresentation shows a complete lack of integrity.
This is all well established.

Now I do not want to see another neo liberal government again under any leader, because it cannot deal with the big issues, problems like climate change.

When you look at the range of likely choices, can you see a clear difference between a Keith led government and one led by say, Jeremy Hunt?

Hound is right on this...both parties need a reboot before the next election, but that does not mean I think Labour will realise that in time.

[BillyStubbsTears]

"His personal ratings are low with voters"

err...have you compared his figures to those of his predecessor whom you supported so passionately?

[albie]

BST,

I support Socialist policies, not an individual, never have.

Comparison with Corbyn is actually about the same, but clearly without the negative press Corbyn was constantly under.

The real point is to compare with Johnson, as he is the opponent in view.
Both are very unpopular with the general public.

So are you saying stick with Keith and his crew?
Reeves whose grasp of the energy economy is non existent, or Wes Streeting advocating more private health involvement.

The tragedy is that these are not socialists, they are anti-socialists.
No place for a nostalgic romantic, pining for a diet Blair to remind of the good old days.

Move on, Lad!

[BillyStubbsTears]

Albie.

It's hard to have a sensible discussion if you don't engage with the basic facts.

"The real point is to compare with Johnson, as he is the opponent in view.
Both are very unpopular with the general public."

In polls so far in 2022, Johnson's average net approval rating is -30.3%
Starmer's average figure is -4.2%.

"Comparison with Corbyn is actually about the same".
In roughly 180 polls during Corbyn's leadership, he bettered Starmer's current average 21 times. Almost all of which came in the immediate aftermath of May putting in THE most hapless general election performance in a century.

"...but clearly without the negative press Corbyn was constantly under."
I'm really struggling to know where to begin here. Did Beergate never happen? Are we supposed to give Corbyn a pass because the Tory press were given free hits on a regular basis, on everything from whether he would kneel to the Queen, to whether Russia was responsible for the Novichok attack?

[albie]

BST,

More sidestepping, I'm afraid.

Comparing "Beergate" to the press tirade than Corbyn was subject to is just laughable.
 
Page after page on the confected anti-semitism story, now known to be a smokescreen from the Labour right.
Constant denigration to the exclusion of the policies, which were and remain popular.
As a diversion strategy, it worked.

Keith has had very little press pushback to date, probably because he offers so little of interest.

It is not relevant how many times polling shows a particular position, what is important is the trend over a defined timeline.
Keith is now at a low in public opinion at precisely the time his stock should be rising, because of the mega clusterf**k of the Johnson leadership.
https://twitter.com/LeftieStats/status/1534807512897159169?cxt=HHwWgoCwzaPT3cwqAAAA
The comparator is where we are NOW.

"In polls so far in 2022, Johnson's average net approval rating is -30.3%
Starmer's average figure is -4.2%."........no link, so no idea what you are referring to here.

Wakefield thread;
https://twitter.com/jamesjohnson252/status/1534829730767192065
This does not look like a winning strategy across the UK to me.

So forget about Corbyn, and speak to the policy agenda that Labour is offering.
I take it that you do agree with the rest, having nitpicked over nowt!

[drfchound]

With reference to the part of albies post written in italics, I would think that those minus ratings figures would depend on their starting point to determine how bad they both are.

[danumdon]

That James Johnson twitter thread reads really badly for Labour, or is it a Starmer led Labour? either way it seems incredible to me that an opposition this far into an election cycle are really struggling to make hay from what can or should be a once in a lifetime opportunity to really hammer your opposition into the deck.

Talking of slippery folk, its not gone unnoticed by some that Labour have bee very reticent to even talk about never mind release any policy details, its a far cry from the last leadership who had policy seeping out of their pores. Is this Starmers way of keeping things very tight on the leash to enable any sort of scrutiny of their very abridged version of Labour's possible manifesto for any up coming GE. If this is to give time to get his minions out and about after vetting all their focus group data and sitting on any unpopular policy until such a time they can sneak it out whilst Johnson is up before the beak again?

It will be interesting to see what this right of center leadership finally release into the public domain, don't anyone hold their breath for too long, i've got a feeling some of the policy Johnson managed to cough up between parties was on the cards, that went down like a whore in marshgate, so back to the blackboard Keith.

[BillyStubbsTears]

Albie.

Here's the data on leader approval polling. Fill your boots.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leadership_approval_opinion_polling_for_the_next_United_Kingdom_general_election

You could do with spending a bit of time looking at the data in that link and reflecting on your other assertions. Starmer is emphatically NOT "at a low" in the public eye. He is:
way higher than he was this time last year.

Way higher than Johnson.

Way higher than Corbyn was apart from for a very short and specific period.

As far as policy goes, can you give me an example of an Opposition party in the past 70 years setting out detailed policy positions 30 months ahead of an election and winning? One will do.

The job of an Opposition at this stage is to play mood music and contrast themselves against the Govt. Especially a failing Govt. You absolutely do not give a failing Govt a target to fight against.

Finally, Labour will probably win in Wakefield by 20 points, after Corbyn lost it for the first time ever. And you'll argue that's a failure...

[drfchound]

I think it says much that despite all the shit surrounding the PM that in the last 18 months Starmers approval rating has actually fallen.
Also that the neither approve or disapprove rating is still at a mid thirties percentage figure which to me indicates that he lacks enough charisma to let a significant number of people form any opinion of him.

[danumdon]

There's not been many manage to become PM with such a lack of any sort of charisma, gravitas or of just having something about them, this individual tries to portray competence but even that's questionable when you look at some of the driftwood he's managed to surround himself with.

Major managed to get away with it in different circumstances, but i just can't see the electorate taking to this fella enough to vote him into power. Anyone competent from the other side will know this.

[BillyStubbsTears]

That was going great till the final sentence DD.

[albie]

Billy, your post 23 above misses the point by a country mile.

Starmer had an early boost with over 30% net approval after 2 months.
His rating has had negative approval figures since mid 2021, with variation from below -20 to the current Opinium negative rating of -6 (depending upon which poll you are using).
You are correct that this is better than Johnson, but that is to be expected given his blatant incompetence.

There is no evidence of Starmer is rising in proportion to the increased distrust of Johnson. Keith has been in a persistent low for over 12 months, below zero.
Take the signal from the noise!

Your Wikipedia list is NOT data.
It is a chronological list of polls conducted without any explanation of how those polls were done, the time period, sample size or weightings applied, or any other relevant criteria.

The idea that the opposition party should simply jockey for position without a policy base is barking mad.
Any support you gain is shallow, and subject to withdrawal once a policy emerges.
How do you conduct a contested by-election campaign without an offer to voters?

We agree Wakefield will be an easy take for Labour....the timing alone makes that nailed on.
On top of the previous MP being a convicted sex offender, Johnson has ensured that the Tory will crash and burn.

Maybe you have been knocking on doors in Wakefield and just moaning about Bozo.....if you raise the issue of Starmer you will find no takers.
Reversion to the mean, buyers regret about a brief fling with Bozo, but no real endorsement of Labour.

The trouble is that it tells you nothing about the big picture, about the prospects for Starmer facing a non-Johnson Tory Party.
The local election results in England were a disaster for Keith, you cannot disregard that because you have no explanation.

[selby]

  And now an  Parliamentary investigation into Kier Starmer (stabber to those who have forgotten about him) for sleaze, wow, a man of integrity and honour and fiddling a bit on the side, what a man.
   Probably had a cheaper Chinese at the beer gate than he declared, and added fifty quid for the back pocket.

[wilts rover]

Errr, no, he was late declaring he went to a football match. Two football matches actually.