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The Starmer Symptom
04.07.24: Fourteen years of Tory gross mismanagement of government, economy and society came to a crashing and well-deserved end. Keir Starmer's Labour government was elected with a landslide of seismic proportions.
But with a huge Parliamentary majority delivered on a share of the vote that would ordinarily spell defeat, this was more about the Tories losing than Labour winning. The old assumptions have been torn up. Throw into the mix an increasingly five-party (six in Scotland) system where once it was two and the potential for electoral volatility if Labour ends up disappointing is obvious.
The Starmer Symptom brings together leading political writers to navigate the complex terrain of this seismic shift in British politics. This unique collection analyses voter data, and looks at the break-up of the two-party system with the rise of a populist right in Reform UK and a new independent left. Will Keir Starmer's government be able to successfully combine the pragmatic and social democratic to produce radical change? And if not, who is waiting in the wings?
But with a huge Parliamentary majority delivered on a share of the vote that would ordinarily spell defeat, this was more about the Tories losing than Labour winning. The old assumptions have been torn up. Throw into the mix an increasingly five-party (six in Scotland) system where once it was two and the potential for electoral volatility if Labour ends up disappointing is obvious.
The Starmer Symptom brings together leading political writers to navigate the complex terrain of this seismic shift in British politics. This unique collection analyses voter data, and looks at the break-up of the two-party system with the rise of a populist right in Reform UK and a new independent left. Will Keir Starmer's government be able to successfully combine the pragmatic and social democratic to produce radical change? And if not, who is waiting in the wings?
304 pages, Paperback
First published August 20, 2025
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November 20, 2025
I really enjoyed reading this book. It’s a collection of writings, all insightful in their own way, which highlight why the government of Keir Starmer is failing to deliver. His and the party’s failings are terminal, is the inescapable conclusion I reached after navigating these 18 essays, expertly pulled together by left cultural pioneer Mark Perryman. Every day that passes that brings with it yet more evidence of a failing political project demonstrates that Labour is finished. The question is, what comes next? Time will tell.
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