Good piece, Nick. I've met Starmer a couple of times, fleetingly. He's warm and funny, and he really listens. It really doesn't seem to be about him and he looks mildly embarrassed when there's even the slightest sense of fawning.
As to the guff (I'm moderating my language here) about "supporting Corbyn" during those awful years: of course he did. He did what was necessary - and it mirrors what thousands of us in CLPs all over the country did. We could have resigned because this wasn't "our" Labour Party any longer, or we could buckle down and advocate for change. I did wobble at bit when antisemitism was at its worst, but change will only happen if good people fight for it.
I don't think any of us dreamt of being where we are now. A landslide? After "the worst defeat since 1932" or whatever it was five years before? That's down to the Tories finally splitting deeply and possibly terminally on Europe, but also on economic competence. But it's also down to Starmer ruthlessly excising the worst offenders and being willing to accept the opprobrium of the Corbynite left. It was necessary surgery.
Now a whole new battle is ahead of us. The damage to our body politic and the nation goes very deep. I wish him, and all of us, the very best of luck. I hope and believe he is the right man for the job.
A British commentator, talking on CBC Radio yesterday, suggested that Sunak may be leading his party to a defeat on the level that Canadian voters dealt the then governing Conservatives in the fall of 1993. Voters were still angry about the VAT that the Mulroney Conservatives imposed on the country, and although Mulroney had stepped down as leader, also angry at Mulroney's sleaziness. Two regional parties entered onto the scene - the separatist Bloc Quebecois and the Reform Party, led by the son of a former premier of Alberta. The Conservatives went from 152 seats to 2, leading my cousin to quip that Parliament was now a "2 Tory house", the Bloc became the official opposition and the Reform Party took #3 place ahead of the New Democrats.
I hope that by the time I wake up tomorrow morning at 7 a.m. Eastern Time, that the outcome of your General Election will be clear enough to declare the Labour Party the winners. We had a byelection last week in Canada that took an unusual amount of time to declare, partly because of some movement afoot to protest against FPTP by putting a ridiculous number of names on the ballot - a total of 89 candidates, but also because the challenging Conservative candidate won by fewer than 600 votes in a riding that had been Liberal for 30 years.
Fascinating piece! I'm so glad I subscribed.
Thank you so much!
Good piece, Nick. I've met Starmer a couple of times, fleetingly. He's warm and funny, and he really listens. It really doesn't seem to be about him and he looks mildly embarrassed when there's even the slightest sense of fawning.
As to the guff (I'm moderating my language here) about "supporting Corbyn" during those awful years: of course he did. He did what was necessary - and it mirrors what thousands of us in CLPs all over the country did. We could have resigned because this wasn't "our" Labour Party any longer, or we could buckle down and advocate for change. I did wobble at bit when antisemitism was at its worst, but change will only happen if good people fight for it.
I don't think any of us dreamt of being where we are now. A landslide? After "the worst defeat since 1932" or whatever it was five years before? That's down to the Tories finally splitting deeply and possibly terminally on Europe, but also on economic competence. But it's also down to Starmer ruthlessly excising the worst offenders and being willing to accept the opprobrium of the Corbynite left. It was necessary surgery.
Now a whole new battle is ahead of us. The damage to our body politic and the nation goes very deep. I wish him, and all of us, the very best of luck. I hope and believe he is the right man for the job.
A British commentator, talking on CBC Radio yesterday, suggested that Sunak may be leading his party to a defeat on the level that Canadian voters dealt the then governing Conservatives in the fall of 1993. Voters were still angry about the VAT that the Mulroney Conservatives imposed on the country, and although Mulroney had stepped down as leader, also angry at Mulroney's sleaziness. Two regional parties entered onto the scene - the separatist Bloc Quebecois and the Reform Party, led by the son of a former premier of Alberta. The Conservatives went from 152 seats to 2, leading my cousin to quip that Parliament was now a "2 Tory house", the Bloc became the official opposition and the Reform Party took #3 place ahead of the New Democrats.
I hope that by the time I wake up tomorrow morning at 7 a.m. Eastern Time, that the outcome of your General Election will be clear enough to declare the Labour Party the winners. We had a byelection last week in Canada that took an unusual amount of time to declare, partly because of some movement afoot to protest against FPTP by putting a ridiculous number of names on the ballot - a total of 89 candidates, but also because the challenging Conservative candidate won by fewer than 600 votes in a riding that had been Liberal for 30 years.