Keir Starmer campaigning during the 2020 Labour Party leadership election

The Labour Party leadership of Keir Starmer began when Keir Starmer was elected as Leader of the UK Labour Party in April 2020, following the resignation of Jeremy Corbyn after Labour's defeat at the 2019 general election. Starmer's tenure as leader has been marked by his opposition to some of the government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and various other issues involving the government, including Partygate, the cost of living crisis, and the industrial disputes.

During Starmer's tenure, his party suffered the loss of a previously Labour seat in the 2021 Hartlepool by-election, followed by holds in the 2021 Batley and Spen by-election, 2022 Birmingham Erdington by-election and 2022 City of Chester by-election, and a gain from the Conservative Party in the 2022 Wakefield by-election. Labour received mixed results in the 2021 local elections, followed by gains in the 2022 local elections. Labour made significant gains in the 2023 local elections, becoming the largest party in local government for the first time since 2002. In February 2023, Starmer's antisemitism reforms resulted in the party no longer being monitored by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC).

Since the end of 2021, Labour have consistently polled ahead of the Conservatives as the governments under prime ministers Boris Johnson, Liz Truss, and Rishi Sunak were affected by issues such as the cost of living crisis, the July 2022 government crisis, the September 2022 mini-budget, the October 2022 government crisis, the National Health Service strikes, and a number of scandals involving Conservative MPs.

Under Keir Starmer the think tank Labour Together have been described as "crucial" to his "vision for government".[1]

Starmer has been accused of being authoritarian during his leadership of the Labour Party, such as via not committing to overturn the Conservative Party’s anti-protest bill and via intolerance for dissent within the Labour Party; the latter of which has also been described as "anti-democratic and above all illiberal".[2][3][4][5]

Background

In the 2019 general election, Labour suffered its worst election defeat since 1935, with the Conservative Party earning an 80-seat majority.[6][7] Labour won 203 seats, gaining 32.2% of the vote.[7] This was the Labour Party's fourth consecutive general election defeat.[8] Following Labour's defeat, Jeremy Corbyn announced that he would stand down as Leader of the Labour Party.[9]

Former Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair said that Corbyn's Brexit policy "alienated both sides of the debate" and that he personified "a brand of quasi-revolutionary socialism - mixing far-left economic policy with deep hostility to Western foreign policy". Blair also highlighted the handling of antisemitism in the party as a key issue.[10] Political scientist John Curtice said that "the bond between Labour and its traditional working-class base is now badly strained" after a substantial swing of votes from Labour to the Conservatives in leave-voting areas.[11] Corbyn took responsibility for the defeat but said he remained proud of his party's campaign.[12] In the Observer, Corbyn claimed that Labour's election campaign had successfully re-set the terms of debate and his manifesto would be seen as "historically important".[12] Corbyn's Shadow Chancellor and ally John McDonnell also took responsibility for the defeat but also cited the media's portrayal of Corbyn as a factor in the defeat.[12][13]

Labour leadership bid

Keir Starmer and his leadership rival Rebecca Long-Bailey at a hustings in February 2020

On 4 January 2020, Keir Starmer announced his candidacy for the ensuing leadership election.[14] Starmer had previously been Labour's Shadow Brexit Secretary since 2016.[15] By 8 January, it was reported that he had gained enough nominations from Labour MPs and MEPs to get onto the ballot paper, and that the trade union Unison was backing him. Unison, with 1.3 million members, said Starmer was the best placed candidate to unite the party and regain public trust.[16] He also gained support from former Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Mayor of London Sadiq Khan.[17] Supporters of Rebecca Long-Bailey criticised Starmer for releasing details of his campaign donations on the register of members' interests rather than independently, as Long-Bailey and Lisa Nandy had done, which meant that details of his donors were not published until after voting had opened.[18][19]

Starmer went on to win the leadership contest on 4 April 2020, defeating Long-Bailey and Nandy, with 56.2% of the vote in the first round,[20] and subsequently became Leader of the Opposition.[21]

Leader of the Opposition

In his leadership acceptance speech, Starmer said he would refrain from "scoring party political points" and planned to "engage constructively with the government", having been elected amid the COVID-19 pandemic.[22] Starmer also pledged in the speech to end anti-Semitism in the party.[17]

2020 Shadow Cabinet appointments, dismissals and rebellions

In April 2020, Starmer's shadow cabinet was appointed over the course of the week following the leadership election, which included former leader Ed Miliband, as well as both of the candidates he defeated in the contest. He also appointed Anneliese Dodds as Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, making her the first woman to serve in that position in either a ministerial or shadow ministerial capacity.[23]

On 25 June 2020, Starmer dismissed his former leadership rival Rebecca Long-Bailey from her post as Shadow Secretary of State for Education. Long-Bailey had refused to delete a tweet calling the actress Maxine Peake an "absolute diamond" and linking to an interview in The Independent in which Peake said that the practice of kneeling on someone's neck by US police, as used in the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, was "learnt from seminars with Israeli secret services". The original article stated that "the Israeli police has denied this."[24] Starmer said that because the article "contained anti-Semitic conspiracy theories" it should not have been shared by Long-Bailey.[25][26] The decision to dismiss Long-Bailey was criticised by the Socialist Campaign Group, whose members met with Starmer about the decision.[27] The decision was welcomed by some Jewish groups including the Board of Deputies and the Jewish Labour Movement. Starmer said that "restoring trust with the Jewish community is a number one priority. Antisemitism takes many different forms and it is important that we all are vigilant against it."[28][29] On 27 June, he replaced her with Kate Green.[30]

On 23 September 2020, three frontbenchers (Olivia Blake, Nadia Whittome, and Beth Winter) rebelled against Labour's position of abstention on the Overseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Bill and voted against the bill; all three lost their frontbench roles over the issue. This move was seen as an indication of the firm discipline Starmer intended to exert over his party.[31]

In the third reading of the Covert Human Intelligence Sources (Criminal Conduct) Bill on 15 October 2020, the Labour Party stance was to abstain yet 34 Labour MPs rebelled, including shadow ministers Dan Carden and Margaret Greenwood, and five parliamentary private secretaries who all resigned from their frontbench roles. These 34 were penalised the next day by being put on probation for going against the one-line whip to abstain.[32]

May 2021 Shadow Cabinet reshuffle

In the aftermath of relatively poor results in the 2021 local elections, Starmer carried out a May 2021 shadow cabinet reshuffle. Starmer dismissed Angela Rayner as Chair of the Labour Party and National Campaign Coordinator following the elections.[33][34] The move was criticised by John McDonnell, former Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester.[35][36] The major outcome of the reshuffle was the demotion of the Shadow Chancellor, Anneliese Dodds.[37] Rachel Reeves was appointed as the new Shadow Chancellor and Angela Rayner succeeded Reeves as Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. Nick Brown was dismissed as Chief Whip and replaced by his deputy, Alan Campbell. Valerie Vaz departed as Shadow Leader of the House of Commons and was replaced by Thangam Debbonaire, who in turn was succeeded as Shadow Secretary of State for Housing by Lucy Powell. On 11 May 2021, Starmer's Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) Carolyn Harris resigned, which The Times reported was after allegedly spreading false rumours about the private life of Angela Rayner prior to her dismissal.[38][39] Sharon Hodgson was appointed as Starmer's new PPS.[40]

Starmer at the Cenotaph in 2021

November 2021 Shadow Cabinet reshuffle

The November 2021 shadow cabinet reshuffle, which was considered a surprise,[41] included the promotion of Yvette Cooper and David Lammy to Shadow Home Secretary and Shadow Foreign Secretary, respectively, while Miliband was moved from Shadow Secretary of State for Business and Industrial Strategy to Shadow Secretary of State for Climate Change and Net Zero. The appointment of Cooper in particular was described by some commentators as a sign of Labour further splitting from the Corbyn leadership and moving to the right.[42] The BBC's Laura Kuenssberg and Robert Peston of ITV News said that the reshuffle aimed to "combine experience and youth" and end "the fatuous project of trying to ... placate Labour's warring factions", and instead chose "shadow ministers for their perceived ability".[43][44] In the New Statesman, journalist Stephen Bush suggested that Starmer had "removed underperforming shadow cabinet ministers and rewarded his biggest hitters – but the resulting shadow cabinet looks to be less than the sum of its parts."[45]

2022 NATO and Ukraine policy dispute

Shortly before the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, 11 Labour backbench MPs signed a letter by the Stop the War Coalition that accused the UK government of "sabre-rattling" and said that NATO "should call a halt to its eastward expansion and commit to a new security deal for Europe which meets the needs of all states and peoples", whilst also arguing that NATO was an aggressive organisation due to military actions taken by its members outside its borders in the past. The MPs were asked by the party whips, representatives of the leadership tasked with maintaining discipline among Labour MPs, to remove their names from the statement under threat of being expelled from the party and all quickly agreed to do so. A spokesperson for the Labour Party said that this action ensured that every Labour MP understood that their party was on the side of "Britain, Nato, freedom and democracy".[46][47] At around this time, Young Labour's Twitter account was suspended after it criticised the leadership policy towards NATO.[48] In an interview with the BBC in March 2022, Starmer was asked whether he would be hoping that MPs who backed Stop the War "won't be standing at the next election or if they do whether [he would] be fully supporting them to do so". After repeatedly being accused of not answering the question, Starmer gave the answer of "well, they are Labour MPs and of course I support them, but all of our MPs will go through a process for selection into the next election".[49]

Industrial action policy disputes

The summer of 2022 saw significant amounts of industrial unrest.[50][51] Starmer instructed members of his shadow cabinet to refrain from joining picket lines;[52] some Labour MPs appeared on picket-lines including frontbenchers Kate Osborne, Paula Barker, Peter Kyle, and Navendu Mishra. The Labour Party's contingents in the Scottish and Welsh parliaments also took a different approach.[53][54] Sam Tarry, Shadow Minister for Buses and Local Transport, was dismissed on 27 July after appearing on a rail strike picket. He said in a TV interview that workers should receive a pay rise in line with inflation though Labour policy was that pay increases should be based on negotiation. A spokesperson for the party said that "Sam Tarry was sacked because he booked himself onto media programmes without permission and then made up policy on the hoof."[55] His dismissal was criticised by trade union leaders and Tarry wrote in an opinion piece for the i that "failing to join the striking rail workers on a picket line would have been an abject dereliction of duty for me as a Labour MP."[56][57]

Diane Abbott suspension

In April 2023, after writing an article in The Observer, former Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott was suspended as a Labour MP pending an investigation.[58][59] In the article, Abbott claimed that although "many types of white people with points of difference" such as Jewish, Irish or Traveller people can experience prejudice, they are not subject to racism "all their lives".[59][58] Abbott later apologised for the article, saying that she had erroneously sent an early draft of her article.[58] A Labour Party statement said that the comments were "deeply offensive and wrong".[59] Starmer said that she was suspended due to anti-Semitism.[58]

Neal Lawson's possible expulsion

In June 2023, Neal Lawson, the chair of the centre-left think tank, Compass, faced possible expulsion from the Labour Party after 44 years of membership due to tweeting in 2021 in favour of other political parties working together with Labour against the Tories.[60] In response to being notified of his possible expulsion, Lawson said that the party had become obsessed with "petty tyranny" and under the leadership of Keir Starmer the party had been captured by a clique who are "behaving like playground bullies".[60] Labour MP Jon Cruddas accused the party under Starmer of being right-wing, illiberal and of enacting a "witch-hunt", calling the decision regarding Lawson a "disgrace".[61]

2023 Shadow Cabinet reshuffle

In September 2023, Starmer reshuffled his shadow cabinet for the third time since taking over as leader.[62][63] Writers from The Guardian and Politico said that the Blairite wing of the party had prospered in the reshuffle to the detriment of the soft left of the party.[64][65] One shadow minister, said of the reshuffle, "It's all the Blairites" and called it "an entirely factional takeover".[66] Starmer said that he was putting his "strongest possible players on the pitch" ahead of the upcoming general election.[67] Tom Belger writing for LabourList described the reshuffle as a continuing of "Labour’s right-ward march".[68]

Starmer's deputy Angela Rayner received the shadow levelling up post, replacing Lisa Nandy who was demoted to the shadow minister for international development.[67] The most senior members of the shadow cabinet remained in their positions.[67] Rosena Allin-Khan, who was the shadow minister for mental health before the reshuffle, resigned from the Shadow Cabinet, criticising shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting's advocacy for outsourcing the NHS to the private sector.[69] She also said that Starmer did "not see a space for a mental health portfolio in a Labour cabinet".[70][71][72] The reshuffle coincided with the start of the tenure of Sue Gray as Starmer's new chief of staff.[13]

2023 Israel–Hamas war

During the 2023 Hamas-Israel War, Starmer emphasised his support for Israel, stated he would favour military aid to the country, and described the actions of Hamas and other militants as "terrorism".[73][74]

In an interview with LBC on 11 October 2023, Starmer was asked whether it would be "appropriate" for Israel to totally cut off power and water supplies to Gaza, with Starmer replying that "I think that Israel does have that right" and that "obviously everything should be done within international law".[75] The Labour Muslim Network, the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) and Amnesty International described his comments as endorsing "collective punishment", which they said was a war crime.[76][77][78][79] PSC Director Ben Jamal called Starmer's stance on Israel "grotesque".[80] According to the Labour Muslim Network, over 250 Muslim Labour councillors have called on Starmer to call for an immediate ceasefire.[81] Starmer has said that a ceasefire would only benefit Hamas for future attacks, instead calling for a humanitarian pause to allow aid to reach Gaza.[82] On 20 October, Starmer clarified that he only meant that Israel should have the right to defend itself.[75][83]

On 8 November, shadow minister for the New Deal for Working People, Imran Hussain resigned from the Labour front bench saying his support for a ceasefire in Gaza differed substantially from Starmer's.[82] As of 9 November, 47 of Labour's councillors had resigned over the issue and the party lost its majority on the Oxford City Council.[84][85][86][87][88][89]

On 15 November 2023, Starmer suffered his largest defeat as leader when 56 of his MPs defied a three line whip to vote for a SNP motion to support a ceasefire in Gaza.[90] This included 10 frontbenchers; Jess Phillips, Naz Shah, Afzal Khan, Yasmin Qureshi, Sarah Owen, Rachel Hopkins, Andy Slaughter, Paula Barker, Mary Foy and Dan Carden.[91]

On 18 December 2023, Starmer followed Rishi Sunak in changing his stance by calling for a "sustainable ceasefire" in relation to the conflict in Gaza as part of a "two-stage solution".[92][93]

Further resignations

In December 2023, the Labour leader of Hastings Borough Council along with five other Labour Party councillors resigned from the party. In a statement the councillors said that the party did not provide the "policies, support or focus on local government".[94]

Public statements

In an interview with the i's Francis Elliott in December 2021, Starmer refused to characterise himself as a socialist, asking "What does that mean?" He added: "The Labour Party is a party that believes that we get the best from each other when we come together, collectively, and ensure that you know, we give people both opportunity and support as they needed."[95]

Starmer has advocated for a government based on "security, prosperity and respect". He has said he wants crime reduced, maintaining that "too many people do not feel safe in their streets". He also wants to see "repairing after the pandemic".[96] Starmer favours partnership between government and business, having said: "A political party without a clear plan for making sure businesses are successful and growing ... which doesn't want them to do well and make a profit ... has no hope of being a successful government."[97]

In the 2020 Labour Party leadership election, Starmer ran on a pledge to renationalise rail, mail, water, and energy back into common ownership; this pledge has been dropped, while retaining commitments to the renationalisation of rail, and having pledged to create a publicly owned energy company, GB Energy, to "compete with private industry and promote clean energy".[98][99][100] In 2022 speeches, Starmer criticised the Conservative government and vowed to restore trust in government if he came to power.[96] He described the Labour Party as "deeply patriotic" and cited its most successful leaders, Clement Attlee, Harold Wilson, and Tony Blair, for policies "rooted in the everyday concerns of working people".[96]

COVID-19

During the first COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, Starmer called for the government to publish an exit strategy outlining which parts of the economy and society would be prioritised once the government's tests for coming out of lockdown were met.[101] He said that the government had been "too slow to enter the lockdown", and called for an exit plan in a "careful, considered way with public health, scientific evidence and the safety of workers and families".[102] In June 2020, Starmer said he would support the government in "trying to do the right thing" when scrutinising the government's plans to ease lockdown restrictions.[103] On 16 August, he called for the government to reopen schools in September 2020, saying there were "no ifs, no buts, no equivocation" regarding the decision.[104]

Starmer made his first speech to the Labour Party Conference on 22 September 2020.[105] He attacked the government's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, calling it "serial incompetence" and suggesting that Johnson was "just not up to the job".[105] Labour unveiled "A New Leadership" as its slogan the day before the conference.[106] In October 2020, Starmer called for the government to introduce a "circuit-breaker" stay-at-home order for at least two weeks to reduce the impact of COVID-19 over the winter, which had been revealed to have been recommended by the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies but not implemented by the government.[107] In December 2020, Starmer was criticised for failing to challenge white nationalist, Great Replacement conspiracy theories made by a caller when he was a guest on Nick Ferrari's programme on talk radio station LBC.[108][109]

Foreign affairs

Starmer at a meeting with US Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi in September 2021

Starmer was previously an advocate for a second Brexit referendum after the process of the UK withdrawal from the EU was completed; in 2021, he ruled out a return to free movement with the EU or substantial renegotiation of the EU–UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement if Labour won the next UK general election.[110] By July 2022, Starmer confirmed that there was no case for the UK re-joining the EU and pledged to "make Brexit work".[111] He also committed to keeping the UK out of the single market, Customs Union, and free movement rules.[111] Of the United States as it transitioned from the presidency of Donald Trump to that of Joe Biden, he said: "I'm anti-Trump but I'm pro-American. And I'm incredibly optimistic about the new relationship we can build with President Biden." He argued that "Britain is at its strongest" when it is "the bridge between the US and the rest of Europe."[112]

During the prelude to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Starmer held a meeting with NATO General Secretary Jens Stoltenberg and said in an interview with the BBC that Corbyn was "wrong" to be a critic of NATO and that the Labour Party's commitment to the alliance was "unshakeable". He elaborated on this point that he felt it was "important for me to make clear that we stand united in the UK ... Whatever challenges we have with the [Boris Johnson's] government, when it comes to Russian aggression we stand together."[113] He said Russia should be hit with "widespread and hard-hitting" economic sanctions.[114] He also criticised the Stop the War Coalition in an opinion piece for The Guardian arguing that they were "not benign voices for peace" but rather "[a]t best they are naive, at worst they actively give succour to authoritarian leaders" such as Vladimir Putin "who directly threaten democracies."[115]

Education

On education, Starmer, who benefited from a private school charity himself, vowed in 2021 to strip independent schools of their charitable status, a move that has been criticised by the Independent Schools Council,[116][117] and he repeated the pledge in July 2022.[118] The policy aimed to raise £1.7 billion to be spent on state schools.[116] In May 2023, Starmer abandoned the pledge he made in his 2020 leadership campaign to get rid of tuition fees, while remaining committed to a "fairer" system of tuition fees.[119]

National Health Service

On 15 January 2023, Starmer appeared on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, a BBC television programme. Despite having given a pledge to "end outsourcing in the NHS" during his campaign to become party leader, he told Laura Kuenssberg that expanded use of the private sector would be considered as he would "look at all sorts of reform" for the public health service. He maintained the public would not want a leader who "dogmatically insists that whatever was the position before can never change even when the circumstances have changed". Starmer maintained the private sector could help clear waiting lists.[120]

Constitutional issues

Starmer among attendees at the Accession Council of King Charles III (2022)

Opposing Scottish independence and a second referendum on the subject, the Labour Party under Starmer's leadership has set up a constitutional convention to address what he describes as a belief among people across the UK that "decisions about me should be taken closer to me."[121][112] Starmer ruled out any potential coalition with the SNP at a local or national level.[122] Starmer is against the reunification of Ireland, having stated that he would be "very much on the side of Unionists" if there were to be a border poll.[123] Starmer wants to replace the House of Lords with an elected second chamber, Starmer maintains the Conservatives have too often given peerages to ‘lackeys and donors‘.[124] A report published by the Labour Party in December 2022 recommended further devolution of powers both in England and to the other nations of the United Kingdom.[125] The party has packaged some of these policies under the label "take back control", a slogan associated with the 2016 EU referendum.[126]

On 21 September 2022, it was announced that 370 Constituency Labour Partys (CLPs) had passed policy in favour of proportional representation, equating to approximately 60% of all CLPs in the UK.[127] On 26 September 2022, Labour Party members and trade unions voted in favour of ending the first-past-the-post electoral system and replacing it with a proportional electoral system at the Labour Party's annual conference in Liverpool.[128][129] However, the motion is not binding.[130] Starmer said that electoral reform is not a priority and ruled out putting electoral reform in the Labour Party's next election manifesto.[130]

Labour's five missions

In a speech in Manchester on 23 February 2023, Starmer said he is already planning his second term as prime minister, and gave his list of five "national missions" as the basis for Labour's manifesto for the next election after which he expects to start his first term as prime minister. He would make the UK achieve fast, sustained economic growth. Starmer would make the UK a "clean energy superpower", by 2030 all UK electricity would be generated without fossil fuel. Starmer would improve the NHS and cut health inequalities. He would reform the judicial system and improve education standards.[131]

Drug laws

Starmer has ruled out reforming UK drug laws by a Labour government under his leadership.[132] In 2021 he described the Conservative government's approach to drug policy as "roughly right".[133] Starmer argued that there was no case for decriminalising possession of cannabis because he has seen "too much of the damage that sits behind drugs".[134]

Public opinion

Election results

Starmer's 2020 approval graph

2021

Starmer led the Labour Party into the 2021 local elections.[135] On 11 March, Starmer launched Labour's local election campaign, with Angela Rayner (Deputy Leader), Sadiq Khan (Mayor of London), Mark Drakeford (First Minister of Wales), Anas Sarwar (Scottish Labour leader), and Tracy Brabin (Mayor of West Yorkshire candidate) as speakers. The party focused its election priorities on giving nurses a pay rise.[136][137] This was during a period of popularity for the government in the wake of the COVID-19 vaccination programme; into the short campaign period, the Conservative Party started to develop a 6–7% poll lead on the Labour Party.[138][139]

Starmer was criticised for the Labour Party's failure to win the 2021 Hartlepool by-election. Hartlepool is part of the "red wall", a set of constituencies that historically supported the Labour Party but where the party is being challenged by increasing Conservative support.[140] The Labour Party candidate Paul Williams was a vocal advocate of a second referendum on EU membership; 70% of voters in the constituency of Hartlepool had voted to leave the EU, leading to criticism that Starmer had made the wrong decision in advocating for Williams to be selected as the candidate.[141][142] The Conservative candidate Jill Mortimer won the by-election with 51.9% of the vote and a swing from Labour of almost 16%.[143] It became only the second time since 1982 that the governing party gained a seat in a by-election,[143] and the first Conservative win in the constituency since its creation in 1974.[144]

At the local elections on 6 May 2021, the Labour Party lost 327 councillors and control of 8 councils. While it gained control of Mayor of the West of England and Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority,[145] the Labour Party failed to take the position of Mayor of the West Midlands.[146] The party won a net equal number of police and crime commissioners.[147][145] Elections also took place to the devolved Scottish Parliament and Senedd. In the 2021 Senedd election, Labour equalled its best ever result, falling one seat short of an overall majority, which has never been achieved in that institution,[148] which the BBC reporter Adrian Browne credited to Mark Drakeford and approval of his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic in Wales.[149] In the 2021 Scottish Parliament election, the party achieved its worst ever result at a Holyrood election, winning just 22 seats, two less than in 2016.[148] In July, Labour won the 2021 Batley and Spen by-election and held the seat, a result that was considered to have taken some pressure off Starmer's leadership.[150]

2022

The 2022 local elections on 5 May took place during a more difficult period for the government, which was facing problems such as Partygate and a cost of living crisis.[151][152] The Labour Party made gains across Great Britain winning by far the largest number of seats overall.[153] Some on the British left claimed that Labour had underperformed in comparison with smaller parties.[154] In December 2022, Labour held both the City of Chester and Stretford and Urmston in by-elections with an increased margin for Labour.[155][156] The result in Chester was the party's best-ever result in the seat.

2023

The 2023 local elections on 4 May saw significant losses for the government, which lost over 1,000 council seats.[157] The Labour Party, the Liberal Democrats and the Green Party of England and Wales all made gains, with Labour becoming the party with most members elected to local government for the first time since 2002.[158] With Labour gaining over 500 seats, Starmer claimed that the election sets the party "on course for a Labour majority at the next general election".[157]

In July 2023, Labour gained the Selby and Ainsty constituency from the Conservatives during a by-election with Labour overturning the Conservatives' 20,000 majority with a swing of 23.7%.[159] On the same night, Labour finished second in Boris Johnson's former seat in the Uxbridge and South Ruislip by-election by 495 votes.[159] The party leadership blamed this defeat on the planned expansion of the Ultra Low Emission Zone to outer London.[159]

On 19 October, Labour gained 2 seats in by-elections in Tamworth and Mid Bedfordshire in some of the largest swings from the Conservatives since the prelude to the 1945 general election.[160]

Opinion polls

Since the end of 2021, Labour consistently polled ahead of the Conservatives as the governments under prime ministers Boris Johnson, Liz Truss, and Rishi Sunak were affected by issues such as the cost of living crisis, the July 2022 government crisis, the September 2022 mini-budget, the October 2022 government crisis, and the industrial disputes.[161][162] By mid-October 2022, Labour were recording polling leads such as 36% against the Conservatives according to Redfield & Wilton.[163]

Overview of opinion polling for the Next United Kingdom general election since the 2019 general election.
Overview of opinion polling for the Next United Kingdom general election since the 2019 general election.

Party management

EHRC report, exclusion of Corbyn and antisemitism reforms

In October 2020, following the release of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC)'s report into antisemitism in the party, Starmer accepted its findings in full and apologised to Jews on behalf of the party.[164][165] The report said that there was "a culture within the party which, at best, did not do enough to prevent antisemitism and, at worst, could be seen to accept it".[166] The report also found that the party had broken equality laws due to the handling of antisemitism complaints.[166] Starmer added that the findings were "hard to read" and that it had "been a day of shame for the Labour Party".[166]

Later that day, Jeremy Corbyn stated that "the scale of the problem was also dramatically overstated for political reasons".[167] He was later suspended over his response to the report.[167] Some on the left of the party called for Corbyn's suspension to be lifted.[168] On 14 November 2022, it was reported that the leadership of the Labour Party would not restore the whip to Corbyn, preventing him from standing for election on behalf of the Labour Party.[169] This led to speculation Corbyn could stand for election as the Mayor of London or in his current parliamentary constituency as an independent candidate, in opposition to Labour.[170][171] In March 2023, Labour's National Executive Committee (NEC) voted 22 to 12 on a motion from Starmer to prevent the Labour Party from endorsing Corbyn as a candidate for the party at the next general election.[58][172]

In February 2023, Starmer's antisemitism reforms resulted in the party no longer being monitored by the EHRC.[173]

After having previously resigned from the party in February 2019 citing the handling of antisemitism allegations in the party, former Labour MP Luciana Berger rejoined in February 2023.[166] Berger accepted an apology from Starmer, adding that the party had "turned a significant corner".[166]

2021 party governance changes

In the run up to Labour's conference in September 2021, the party announced plans to reform its governance structure with changes including the return of its older electoral college which would give MPs, members and trade unions a third of the vote each in future leadership elections.[174] Starmer's spokespeople said that this was a way to strengthen the party's link with the trade union movement but commentators described the changes as an attempt to increase the power of MPs and trade unions at the expense of the general membership, along with being a symbolic act to draw a distinction between Starmer and Corbyn.[175][174]

Starmer gave up on the electoral college after it failed to gain the support of trade unions;[176] the party's executive committee agreed to send a series of more modest reforms to conference, including increasing the percentage of Labour MPs a candidate would need the support of to get on the leadership election ballot, banning the party's newest members from voting, and making it harder for members to deselect MPs.[177] These changes were later passed by a small margin.[178][179] The Bakers, Food and Allied Workers' Union voted to end its affiliation to Labour dating back to early in the party's history, commenting that it had "travelled away from the aims and hopes of working-class organisations like ours" under Starmer's leadership.[180]

Forde Report

In April 2020, an internal party report on antisemitism (The Work of the Labour Party’s Governance and Legal Unit in Relation to Anti-semitism, 2014–2019) was leaked.[181][182] It was made during the end of Corbyn's leadership, intended for submission to the EHRC, and dated March 2020.[183] It detailed that there was a tangible issue with antisemitism in the party, but factional hostility to Corbyn hampered efforts to tackle it.[184] In January 2023, it was reported that the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) were not going to take action against the Corbyn-supporting authors of the report, which leaked with unredacted confidential information, and that the Labour Party would pursue a civil case against them.[185][186][187] This internal report led to the Forde Report.[188][187]

On 17 July 2022, the Forde Report was published, having been commissioned by Starmer at the beginning of his leadership.[189][190] It described how groups within Labour had sought to hinder Corbyn while leader of the Labour Party and said that during his leadership it broke into factions which supported or opposed him, though this factionalism had decreased since Starmer took leadership.[189][191] The report said that groups within the party who were in support and opposition to Corbyn both sought to use allegations of antisemitism in the party during his leadership to further their political interests.[190][192] The report detailed bullying, racism, and sexism within the party.[193][194]

The report also said many of those within the party it gathered evidence from were concerned the party operated a "hierarchy of racism or of discrimination", with more resources being allocated to investigate claims of antisemitism, amid their surge and political importance, compared to other forms of discrimination.[193][195][196] Starmer was criticised for his lack of response to the report and the problems within the party that it highlighted, in particular anti-black racism.[197][198]

Election candidate selection process controversy

With the Labour Party needing to gain many new seats if they are to win the next election, and with at least a dozen of their standing MPs planning to stand down before the next election, by early November 2022, the party had started the selection process for the new candidates they will need.[199][200]

In October and November 2022, Starmer was accused of designing and using Labour's new selection process for parliamentary candidates to prevent Corbyn-supporting, left-wing, or disloyal prospective MPs from being able to stand at the next general election.[201] [202][203]

Party members who supported Jeremy Corbyn, the party's previous leader, are saying that under Starmer's leadership, they are being targeted for exclusion by the selection process.[199] Under the selection system, step one is to get onto a 'longlist', which will then be refined down to a 'shortlist'. BBC News says that unnamed potential candidates have said that party employees are being "tasked" to search their online activities for reasons to keep them off the 'longlist'.[199] One unnamed Labour MP from the left of the party said of the party leadership that they were "drunk on power" and that they went "beyond anything from the Blair years".[199] The party defended this activity saying it was for quality control purposes. John McTernan, a former advisor for Tony Blair, supported the activity, saying Labour needs to return "good MPs" with "mainstream Labour values" for the coming election adding that under Corbyn, too much "flotsam and jetsam" became Labour MPs. A Labour representative said "Due diligence is about weeding out candidates who could cause electoral damage".[199]

On 13 November 2022, The Guardian said that under Starmer, the way the selection panel has "exerted tight control" over how candidates are selected for shortlisting had become "extraordinary".[204] Starmer "allies" say that selection vetting needs to be tougher as there has recently been a lot of MPs "suspended, arrested or [...] embarrassed for ill-advised tweets".[204] The Guardian added that the measures often appear to be factional even though previous scandals have not solely involved candidates from the party's left.[204] The co-chair of Momentum, Hilary Schan, said how times were hard for the left in the Labour party, amid the "controversy over party selections" in which candidates from the left-wing of the party were "excluded from shortlists".[205] New Statesman credits Starmer's campaign director, Morgan McSweeney, with the idea of "marginalising left-wingers" using a more stringent selection process.[202] In 2023, the paper went on to rank McSweeney as the third most influential left wing figure in the UK, describing him as Starmer's "most trusted aide".[206]

On 27 January 2023, HuffPost reported that after an encounter with the leaders of Scottish Labour and Welsh Labour, Starmer had "been forced into a U-turn" over the candidate selection process.[207] Scotland's Anas Sarwar and Wales's Mark Drakeford were said to be "frustrated" for not being consulted over the idea of imposing the process used in England on the Scottish and Welsh branches of the party.[207] Following the exchange, it is reported that it was agreed that any new process would have to be agreed jointly.[207] The fear of the proposed English system was that it was designed to prioritise candidates close to the leadership, and to block candidates on the left of the party, thus be used to “stitch up” the candidate shortlists. Starmer's aides characterised the English checks as being used to weed out candidates who may be unsuitable to stand for parliament or who may risk damaging the party’s reputation.[207]

Party membership numbers and finances

Starmer inherited a party membership of 552,835 when he replaced Jeremy Corbyn as leader in April 2020. By the time of the NEC vote seven months later, that had dropped by 56,874, more than 10%, to 495,961, but still the largest of any UK party.[208][209]

By the end of 2021, membership had fallen to 432,213, a drop of more than 21% since Starmer became leader,[210] but still more than double the membership of the Conservative Party.[211] Momentum, a left-wing campaign group, said Starmer's "factional" leadership was to blame as it alienated trade unions.[211] Starmer dismissed this, saying it followed the pattern of membership going up before an election and flattening off again after.[211] Labour therefore made a £5 million loss in 2021 leading to some staff redundancies with the loss in membership fees as well as ongoing legal battles with former staff being key factors for this loss.[210][212] In July 2023, it was revealed that the party's membership had fallen further to 399,195.[213]

By the second quarter of 2022, the Labour Party received more than £10.4 million including a £3 million donation from supermarket baron David Sainsbury and a £2.2 million donation from business tycoon Gary Lubner.[214] Labour also received £2.7 million from public donations and trade unions.[214]

See also

References

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