Keir Starmer as Labour's Fall Guy Amid Leadership Tensions
Guardian columnist Owen Jones argues that Keir Starmer is being set up as the fall guy for Labour's right wing, with the group Labour Together polling party members on a possible replacement.
The piece warns against removing a leader without a clear and ready successor, drawing parallels to the Tory party's recent leadership struggles between Boris Johnson and Liz Truss.
Wes Streeting is depicted as a Blairite rival who aims to reposition Labour leftward and has reportedly outlined a leftward bid strategy, recalling a 2021 comment about 'dragging a sacred cow to the town market and slaughtering it.' However, Streeting is also portrayed as having poor public ratings, with a net approval around -21. During his time as shadow health secretary, he is said to have failed to defend the NHS effectively during the crisis.
Starmer is accused of outsourcing his politics to the Labour right by surrounding himself with Blairite advisers and presiding over a government with New Labour veterans. The article attributes several policies to Starmer's leadership including attacks on the welfare state, harsh asylum measures, cuts to the aid budget, alignment with Donald Trump, and the revival of ID cards.
The author argues that there has been no genuine leftward shift in Labour, noting that the Greens are surging and Labour voters are more likely to switch to the Greens or Liberal Democrats than to Reform or the Tories.
Potential leadership candidates include Wes Streeting or Angela Rayner. Rayner is portrayed as lacking a clear vision, while Streeting is endorsed by Jones, who claims that Labour should broaden Streeting's leadership chances and that his success or failure will be a reflection of Labour's right wing.
