Labour's big problem

Starmer is unpopular, for sure - but the reasons for his party's woes ultimately lie elsewhere

Photo: Number 10, OGL 3, via Wikimedia Commons

THE GREAT parliamentarian Tony Benn would frequently insist that politics should be about ‘issues, not personalities’. He was right. In the modern media age, and with everything they say and do broadcast in high definition, it undeniably helps for a politician to be blessed with character and charm.

But personal charisma is ultimately secondary to political substance. If the policy and programme are wrong and run contrary to the interests of the majority of voters, all the wit and repartee in the world won’t bring electoral success.

That’s why the current frenzy over the Labour leadership carries nothing of the significance outside the SW1 bubble as it does inside it. The identity of the person in the hot seat is, for ordinary voters, of little real importance. What matters is the decisions he or she makes while occupying it.

Don’t misunderstand me: the Lord Mandelson affair that has rocked the Keir Starmer leadership is a genuine scandal and deserves maximum exposure. Moreover, Starmer himself was already crushingly unpopular, and that state of affairs is unlikely to change. He will almost certainly be gone by the summer.