David Gauke: Labour will go left and lose those people whose lukewarm vote was for something else
Confidence requires clarity.
David Gauke is a former Justice Secretary and was an independent candidate in South-West Hertfordshire at the 2019 general election.
The Labour government is moving leftwards.
Whether Keir Starmer survives as Prime Minister or not, a shift in direction is inevitable.
It has been evident ever since the retreat on welfare cuts that the Parliamentary Labour Party was to the left of its frontbench and – given a fight between the two – the PLP was capable of prevailing. Abolition of the two child benefit gap was to follow, as was a second autumn budget with hefty tax increases, necessary in part to pay for higher welfare spending.
Since then, of course, Starmer’s position has weakened. When a Prime Minister is on the brink, the expedient approach is to focus on party management, and Starmer is nothing if not expedient. He is often dismissed as being remarkably unpolitical, which is true, but he has also demonstrated repeatedly a very political willingness to be ruthless and flexible.
These characteristics were to the fore in the departure of Morgan McSweeney as his chief of staff. McSweeney was central to Labour’s election campaign and to the operation of the government. In both roles, he pursued a political strategy – adopted tentatively by Starmer – which involved resisting a drift towards the left. Even with McSweeney, the Government has drifted leftwards, without him the current will be irresistible for Starmer.
This all assumes that Starmer stays. If he does not, a Labour leadership race will focus on a membership who thinks that the problem is that the Government is too right-wing. There will be calls for bigger government, wealth taxes, a more generous welfare state, and nationalisations. Whereas recent Conservative leadership elections involved members asking themselves who was best placed to beat Nigel Farage, Labour members will worry more about losing votes to Zack Polanski. It would be a brave and unsuccessful Labour leadership candidate who will set forward a manifesto focused on making the country more economically dynamic, competitive, and business-friendly.
All of this can be contrasted with how Labour fought the last election and, as a consequence, the mandate they received. It is true to say that Labour’s campaign was deliberately unmemorable and risk-free in the manner, to use Roy Jenkins’ phrase, of ‘a man carrying a priceless Ming vase across a highly polished floor’. It is also true to say that the media put Labour under little scrutiny, reflecting the public’s sentiment that it was time for a change but with a weary incuriosity as to what that change may involve. Nonetheless, Labour went to great lengths to demonstrate that it was not going to be a government of the left.
There were promises not to increase the …
Confidence requires clarity.
David Gauke is a former Justice Secretary and was an independent candidate in South-West Hertfordshire at the 2019 general election.
The Labour government is moving leftwards.
Whether Keir Starmer survives as Prime Minister or not, a shift in direction is inevitable.
It has been evident ever since the retreat on welfare cuts that the Parliamentary Labour Party was to the left of its frontbench and – given a fight between the two – the PLP was capable of prevailing. Abolition of the two child benefit gap was to follow, as was a second autumn budget with hefty tax increases, necessary in part to pay for higher welfare spending.
Since then, of course, Starmer’s position has weakened. When a Prime Minister is on the brink, the expedient approach is to focus on party management, and Starmer is nothing if not expedient. He is often dismissed as being remarkably unpolitical, which is true, but he has also demonstrated repeatedly a very political willingness to be ruthless and flexible.
These characteristics were to the fore in the departure of Morgan McSweeney as his chief of staff. McSweeney was central to Labour’s election campaign and to the operation of the government. In both roles, he pursued a political strategy – adopted tentatively by Starmer – which involved resisting a drift towards the left. Even with McSweeney, the Government has drifted leftwards, without him the current will be irresistible for Starmer.
This all assumes that Starmer stays. If he does not, a Labour leadership race will focus on a membership who thinks that the problem is that the Government is too right-wing. There will be calls for bigger government, wealth taxes, a more generous welfare state, and nationalisations. Whereas recent Conservative leadership elections involved members asking themselves who was best placed to beat Nigel Farage, Labour members will worry more about losing votes to Zack Polanski. It would be a brave and unsuccessful Labour leadership candidate who will set forward a manifesto focused on making the country more economically dynamic, competitive, and business-friendly.
All of this can be contrasted with how Labour fought the last election and, as a consequence, the mandate they received. It is true to say that Labour’s campaign was deliberately unmemorable and risk-free in the manner, to use Roy Jenkins’ phrase, of ‘a man carrying a priceless Ming vase across a highly polished floor’. It is also true to say that the media put Labour under little scrutiny, reflecting the public’s sentiment that it was time for a change but with a weary incuriosity as to what that change may involve. Nonetheless, Labour went to great lengths to demonstrate that it was not going to be a government of the left.
There were promises not to increase the …
David Gauke: Labour will go left and lose those people whose lukewarm vote was for something else
Confidence requires clarity.
David Gauke is a former Justice Secretary and was an independent candidate in South-West Hertfordshire at the 2019 general election.
The Labour government is moving leftwards.
Whether Keir Starmer survives as Prime Minister or not, a shift in direction is inevitable.
It has been evident ever since the retreat on welfare cuts that the Parliamentary Labour Party was to the left of its frontbench and – given a fight between the two – the PLP was capable of prevailing. Abolition of the two child benefit gap was to follow, as was a second autumn budget with hefty tax increases, necessary in part to pay for higher welfare spending.
Since then, of course, Starmer’s position has weakened. When a Prime Minister is on the brink, the expedient approach is to focus on party management, and Starmer is nothing if not expedient. He is often dismissed as being remarkably unpolitical, which is true, but he has also demonstrated repeatedly a very political willingness to be ruthless and flexible.
These characteristics were to the fore in the departure of Morgan McSweeney as his chief of staff. McSweeney was central to Labour’s election campaign and to the operation of the government. In both roles, he pursued a political strategy – adopted tentatively by Starmer – which involved resisting a drift towards the left. Even with McSweeney, the Government has drifted leftwards, without him the current will be irresistible for Starmer.
This all assumes that Starmer stays. If he does not, a Labour leadership race will focus on a membership who thinks that the problem is that the Government is too right-wing. There will be calls for bigger government, wealth taxes, a more generous welfare state, and nationalisations. Whereas recent Conservative leadership elections involved members asking themselves who was best placed to beat Nigel Farage, Labour members will worry more about losing votes to Zack Polanski. It would be a brave and unsuccessful Labour leadership candidate who will set forward a manifesto focused on making the country more economically dynamic, competitive, and business-friendly.
All of this can be contrasted with how Labour fought the last election and, as a consequence, the mandate they received. It is true to say that Labour’s campaign was deliberately unmemorable and risk-free in the manner, to use Roy Jenkins’ phrase, of ‘a man carrying a priceless Ming vase across a highly polished floor’. It is also true to say that the media put Labour under little scrutiny, reflecting the public’s sentiment that it was time for a change but with a weary incuriosity as to what that change may involve. Nonetheless, Labour went to great lengths to demonstrate that it was not going to be a government of the left.
There were promises not to increase the …
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