𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

What a mess. Since Labour’s crushing local elections defeats, we’ve had a botched reset, a stalking horse who threatened to run then backed down, about 90 MPs calling for the Prime Minister to go, more than 100 others writing a letter saying he should stay, multiple ministerial resignations, Wes Streeting quitting but not yet launching a challenge, Angela Rayner dropping a bombshell about her tax affairs which many are suspicious of, and Andy Burnham mounting a comeback that may or may not succeed.

This is absolutely not a calm and clear-headed response to a crisis. The chaotic twists and turns of internecine warfare read more like an episode of EastEnders than serious government. And whatever the hell happens next – and I don’t think anyone, least of all Burnham, Streeting, Rayner et al, can predict that – it is the voters that Labour should actually be most worried about.

If you thought Labour’s election drubbing was bad, things are actually so much worse. Even in the party’s nadir under Jeremy Corbyn after the disastrous 2019 election, its approval rating was just under 30%. It is now at 16%, according to YouGov – no better than the hapless Tory government it replaced.

The 2024 landslide could be seen as a triumph, but it was in fact anything but. Pollster Peter Kellner analysed 31 seats in the North and Midlands that Labour lost to the Conservatives in 2019 but regained five years later. Incredibly, the average number of Labour votes actually went down – which Kellner described as a “fortuitous by-product” of a “split on the Right”.

In fairness to Sir Keir Starmer, this problem is actually much bigger than just him. Labour’s vote appears to have been broadly in decline since the financial crash of 2008. Whether it deserved the blame for that meltdown or not, successive leaders have failed to regain people’s trust and to show that they are on their side.

Yet it is the responsibility of those now in charge to address those issues and, more importantly, the deep problems Britain faces. The soap opera of the past week does anything but.

I can’t for a moment imagine that Streeting, before he left the Cabinet, has really been spending every waking hour this week focused on fixing our broken NHS, even though it is desperately urgent. Burnham has seemingly been at meetings in London rather than Manchester. One suspects many of them had nothing to do with the North. It’s equally hard to think that Sir Keir has been able to concentrate fully on the country’s ills.

Whenever I’ve interviewed voters about politics in towns and cities across the country, I’ve found that many could not care less about a candidate’s political colours. They just want someone who fights doggedly for their interests. None of that appears to have happened this week. In fact, I can’t think of a worse way to respond to the damning judgement of last Friday’s cataclysmic results than by descending into self-interested infighting.

Of course, it’s reasonable to ask tough questions of the leadership, particularly in light of such a drubbing. But there seems to be a lack of basic foresight. The Makerfield constituency Burnham is standing in has a 6,000 majority. What on earth will Labour do if he loses?

None of the contenders seems to realise that, whatever their personal gain, the whole spectacle will drag every single one of them down, whoever comes out on top. Given the already clear, deep-rooted mistrust of Labour, the damage could be irrevocable, and it might never win again.

It’s worth finishing on a note about Starmer. In my view, none of the mayhem of the past week would’ve happened if there had been a clear vision, direction, plan – call it what you will – for fixing Britain.

Had he successfully articulated one, even as late as his disastrous reset on Monday, people would’ve felt that, despite the dreadful election losses, there was a clear roadmap for the future that they could have united behind. The gaping absence of one has led to utter panic and means all hell has broken loose as Labour hits the self-destruct button.

The ideas for the country’s future are more important than personalities, even if a strong prime minister is needed to drive them. Whether Starmer stays – however bewilderingly unlikely it seems – or is replaced, the country is crying out more than ever for a blueprint for a better tomorrow.