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The idea that Labour& #39;s problems can be solved by a change of face at the top are deluded. If Corbyn were leader, Lab would be getting thumped even harder in Hartlepool - they held it in 2019 because of a huge Brexit Party vote. But Starmer& #39;s been no magic bullet, clearly
The problem is what Starmer and Corbyn have in common, not their differences. Indulgence of ID politics and obsession with & #39;diversity& #39;; disaffection from mainstream provincial public opinion; being utterly London-centric etc. It& #39;s a long-term, deep problem that began under Blair
Blair started it; Corbyn turbocharged it & added many other problems; Starmer& #39;s patchy efforts to address it are half-hearted.
The only way a leader could alter it would be if they were prepared to challenge Labour& #39;s internal liberal-cosmopolitan-Londoncentric consensus
The only way a leader could alter it would be if they were prepared to challenge Labour& #39;s internal liberal-cosmopolitan-Londoncentric consensus
But structurally this is nearly impossible, because Lab is dominated at all levels by people so steeped in that consensus that it& #39;s like the air that they breathe. Single London CLPs have bigger memberships than entire counties. The PLP/shadow cabinet are London to the fingertips
Inevitably the leader is going to reflect this consensus, given that it& #39;s accepted as unchallengeable orthodoxy by most of the membership. So blaming Starmer is silly: he is merely the flotsam on top of the tide of history that is tearing Labour apart
Anyone who stood for the Labour leadership on a platform that could win back the Red Wall and appeal to the country outside big cities would lose. The Lab membership whinges about Starmer and blames the party& #39;s woes on him: it should take a long, hard look in the mirror first
