Just weeks ago, The Guardian featured a gushing account from Keir Starmer’s former senior advisers, bragging about how they were perfectly placed to help Kamala Harris in her campaign. The article begins with triumphant rhetoric: “Against all odds, Labour won a stunning landslide.” The reality is Labour’s projected vote share was actually higher than what Starmer delivered, with even Jeremy Corbyn outstripping that of the supposed Labour saviour….
The Labour aides – Deborah Mattinson, Starmer’s director of strategy for three years, and former director of policy Claire Ainsley – compared Kamala Harris to Starmer, proudly sharing that they were in Washington D.C. to “brief leading Democrats” on their project to help target Harris’ so-called “hero voters” – swing voters who care about the economy. They argued that Harris’ background would help her win over middle America. We all saw how that turned out…
Now, Starmer finds himself scrambling to show that he’s committed to the “special relationship” with the U.S., despite Labour’s recent history of anti-Trump rhetoric. One hundred Labour staffers were shipped off to help Harris, and Starmer’s right-hand man, Pat McFadden, is still refusing to say Trump is a not a Nazi. Labour’s deep-seated distaste for Trump doesn’t bode well for their claims of cherishing the UK-U.S. alliance. Time to roll out Farage?
Douglas Alexander – a friend of Starmer’s – was asked on Sky News if the PM will be in post at the next election. He wasn’t so sure himself:
“I think he will. There are no certainties but of course I think he will lead and I think he should because, frankly, on the biggest call in this parliament he’s exercised the right judgment, which is to keep us out of someone else’s war.”