Starmer’s ‘radical’ promises have gone as he targets power – but we still don’t really know who he is | Politics News

Sir Keir Starmer has been on a journey since becoming Labor Party leader in April 2020.

In the race to succeed Jeremy Corbyn, Mr. Keir promised to uphold Labour’s “radical values” and pledged to implement many of the Corbyn-era policies.

Fast-forward three years, and in tone and content, the offer is markedly different.

Take this from Sir Keir during his speech in London on Saturday: “Our message at the next election must be that we are different from the party that Britain rejected in 2019.”

It is perhaps worth remembering that in 2019 Sir Keir Starmer was not a lowly supporter agitated against Jeremy Corbyn’s agenda, he sat around his shadow cabinet table as secretary of state. sign Brexit.

However, Labor officials were equally scathing, saying that the speech represented “a clear rejection of previous management and everything that went with it”.

I was also told, in this context, Jeremy Corbyn unlikely to be readmitted to Labor before the next election.

All of this angered those on the left of the party, who argued that Sir Keir had won leadership by pretending to be false by promising a Corbyn-lite agenda to senior members. move forward, before ignoring that and turning into something closer to Tony Blair to appeal to more moderate voters.

And you know what, they might have a point.

In the race for leadership, he made a series of commitments including eliminating Universal Credit, abolishing tuition fees and nationalizing key industries.

All of that now seems to have been completely removed or severely watered.

But is it important?

The calculation in the leader’s office will be that the loyalists are annoyed with Corbyn as the price to pay to win wider support in the rotating constituencies that need to be made to form a government .

Cruel and hungry

When power becomes the primary goal, many other things can be dismissed more easily like talking outlets.

In fact, you feel that Sir Keir and those around him are enjoying joining this fight because it gives them a chance to define him against his predecessor.

It also shows the ruthless personality and thirst for power (essential qualities for a prime minister) that are underrated in the Labor leader.

The risk is that voters may look back at what Sir Keir said in 2020 and what he is saying now and wonder if his promises to government could be equally shifting. .

And this speaks to another loophole that Labor has yet to complete: finding an interesting answer to the question of who Sir Keir Starmer is and what has driven him forward.

It is an issue that cannot be ignored for some in the party, who worry that answering it may prove difficult because core political ideology shapes a leader’s thinking and Their instructions for action were not as effective in Sir Keir as in some of his predecessors.

This is not an issue if Labor can begin to tell a more convincing personal or policy story about all its leader is about, beyond being a good man and having ability.

Sir Keir Starmer has told us who he is not, now it’s time to explain who he is.