They call it the irony, and some others folly, of Britain’s old-style first-past-the-post electoral post. The Labour Party had won a landslide majority of 412 seats out of 650 with a voting support of 34 per cent, while the Conservative Party suffered the most shameful defeat in decades with voter support base of 24 per cent.
The more ironical part is the fact that the smaller parties, with Liberal Democrats, the Greens and the far-right Reform, won 43 per cent of the votes for the least number of seats, with Liberal Democrats winning 77. There is also the fact that the poll verdict showed how diverse Britain is electorally, with South Asians and others, and women, winning more seats than ever before.
Despite the anomalies of number of seats won and lost in contrast to the voter base support, there is no question that the people of Britain wanted a change and they voted for it. Britain’s new prime minister Keir Starmer does not have the luxury of relishing the sweet victory after Labour’s stay in political wilderness for 14 years.
Starmer has led a different kind of Labour to power, not the Labour which unimaginatively stuck to its old beliefs in a welfare state. The key theme of Starmer and Labour is they would govern responsibly. There would be no financial recklessness. It can be said that Starmer is closer to the New Labour forged by Tony Blair in 1997. Starmer has steered Labour away from the party’s traditional belligerence displayed by the earlier party leader, Jeremy Corbyn. But it remains an uphill task for the Starmer government to pull Britain out of the economic woods. Political observers feel that Liz Truss’ short stint as prime minister and her disastrous budget proposals contributed to the economic woes of Britain and the Conservatives. Britain is still reeling under the cost of living crisis, and illegal immigrants do pose a challenge. The Conservative solution of shipping them to Rwanda might not be the solution, but it needs a proper response.
The newly-named Chancellor of Exchequer Rachel Reeves has her plate full as it were. She has to come up with a plan that helps the frayed sensibilities of ordinary Britons while at the same time putting the country on the path of economic recovery and growth. The extreme position of the Conservatives over Brexit might have to be reviewed, or a fresh round of negotiations begun with the European Union which will ease the strains of United Kingdom (UK)-European Union (EU) trade ties. The next few months will be crucial for Starmer. He has to send out a positive message through his actions to the country as well as to Europe and others, that Britain intends to play a careful role.
The Conservatives have been quite militant in their stance over Ukraine, and the Conservative prime ministers, Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak, were wearing the sentiment prominently on their sleeve. There is need for a nuanced stance on the issue as displayed by French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. While winning the election was an important task, and Starmer has accomplished it with enough push from the voter anger, the more important challenge is that of sorting out the economic mess that Britain is in. Starmer presents the image of a sensible and pragmatic political leader, and people would expect him to take decisions which are measured. He seems to have a talented team to be able to handle the situation well. All that can be said is that he should make the best of what fortune has handed him on a plate.
