Christmas parties, sleeze, and gold wallpaper: Sir Keir is on the up and his critics aren’t happy
Sir Keir Starmer has been landing punches, and the public likes it. His internal critics keep calling it wrong — he’s ignoring them.
The Christmas Party scandal, Owen Paterson’s toxic legacy, Covid legislation debacles, and caught out on that gold-wallpaper-filled flat.
All in a week’s work for Boris Johnson’s Number 10 operation, and Sir Keir has been reaping the rewards.
But — what about Sir Keir’s internal critics? What do they make of Starmer’s poll bounce (Survation, YouGov, etc)?
Well, they’re not happy. The Hard Left want to see Sir Keir focused on niche bits of legislation they dislike, rather than magnify the concerns of voters.
That strategy ended in failure in 2019, and Sir Keir has rightly ignored it. But let’s explore their epic folly.
I don’t intend to relitigate the Christmas party (or should that be “fictional party”, “gathering”, etc?) et al yet the reason why this cuts-through because it goes to the core of Sir Keir’s fundamental critique of Johnson
.Sir Keir has, for months now, been saying the “joke isn’t funny anymore” (he did so today in the Metro online), because he wants to say to people (1) he comprehends (a rare achievement of voter empathy in the Labour world) why people like(d) Boris Johnson, and (2) that reason (joviality, the Merry Monarch, etc etc) is no longer applicable.
And indeed, nothing is funny about hypocrisy when it impacts people’s lives. Christmas was miserable last year: to hear talk of parties (an “island” of joy) is frankly not funny.
At Labour Conference 2021, I spoke with a Corbyn outrider who said Labour keeps tripping up because the Captain Hindsight line rings true to some voters. Sir Keir doesn’t get out fast enough of a story to claim credit when it goes his way.
While I disagree with that analysis, it certainly is helpful in understanding why Sir Keir has personally benefited from this week’s disaster for the Government.
Sir Keir has been saying for months that not only is Johnson not-funny-anymore, his whole Government is (in vibe terms) a bit “off.” Here’s the news week to prove it to voters.
Yet while voters are taking this opportunity to take another look at Labour. Corbyn supporters and Sir Keir’s critics want a change of tack.
On December 1st, one wrote:
Now despite this week leading to Johnsons’ favourability ratings ending at their lowest point ever, it is revealing what these people want Sir Keir to focus on (hint: it’s not HS2).
It is the Nationality and Borders Bill 2021 which is (as of today) in its Second Reading in the House of Lords. And, the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill.
Both of which are extremely complicated pieces of legislation which the Left have decided are axiomatic of (1) the Tories’ malevolence and (2) Sir Keir’s fixation on voters who care about frivolous things like vague notions of fairness.
For example, at a CLP meeting this week I have heard the week’s news cycle to be a “trick” (by whom?) to distract away from these pieces of legislation.
It has gripped certain sections of the internet, particularly after this article appeared which bemoaned the MSM’s lack of interest (from the pages of the MSM), ultimately spilling out into bizarre claims on Question Time.
Again, my point is not the rights and wrongs of these set-piece legislations but about politics with a capital “p.” Where are voters on these issues?
Stripping alleged terrorists of their UK citizenship? Stopping people sitting in motorways shouting about structural injustices? How will that poll among the “fund the NHS, hang the paedophiles” voting base which Sir Keir needs to disrupt if he is ever to live amongst gold wallpaper in Number 10?
I think we can only imagine because we know what happens when Labour leaders decide they know what is good for the public to hear about.
The former leader once allowed a vanity documentary (which turned out to be devastating) to be made of his inner workings. In it, he told his team: “It’s not up to me to throw in other than a couple of lines about ‘the government’s in a mess’.”
An opportunity to put a fire under the Tories dashed because the “real” issues needed to be discussed.
Now, of course the Left are rather rubbish at slow, legislative, scrutiny. Hence why Stella Creasy has achieved more in her short backbench career than Jeremy Corbyn who spent decades failing to do anything with the power in his hands.
Yet the Left certainly believe they are good at this sort of stuff (trying pathetical to be kicked out of the Chamber to get likes on Twitter is their “victory”).
So, they expect Sir Keir to give Johnson a break and focus on the “real” issues. Sir Keir is right to ignore them.
The great dictum “don’t do stupid stuff” (like oppose legislation for the sake of opposing legislation — especially when it’s popular!) applies here.
It can also be expanded to: Don’t listen to stupid losers if you want to win.
