Can Britain's Starmer learn anything from Carney's near-miraculous election win in Canada?

New Indian Express

03-05-2025

Whereas Carney and the Liberals have been vocal in their resistance to Trump, Starmer and Labour have followed a path of obsequiousness, even to the point of avoiding criticism of the US president over threats to Canada. Instead of speaking out, Starmer has managed Trump by flattering him through an invitation for a second state visit.
Starmer and Labour seem determined to curry favour with Trump to gain a free trade agreement with the US. Setting aside the value of such an agreement, given how Trump has simply ignored the deal his first administration struck with Mexico and Canada in 2020, the toadying appears to have all been for naught.
According to the Guardian, the Trump administration has made a free-trade agreement with the UK a second or third level priority. So much for the 'special relationship.'
This apparent disinterest would imply that Starmer and Labour have little to risk by taking a more aggressive stance. Playing a more overtly nationalistic card might play well with more centrist voters in the UK, as it did in Canada. There is clear evidence from opinion polls of growing unhappiness with the United States among Britons, along with increasing disdain for the idea of the 'special relationship'.
Such an approach might undermine some of the momentum that the Reform Party has enjoyed over the last few months. Tying Nigel Farage to the Trump administration might be especially effective given his close connections over several years to the president.
Certainly, tarring your opponent as a mini-Trump represented an effective tool by the Liberal campaign against the Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre, who not only lost the election but also was defeated in his own constituency after having won there seven previous times.
A case could be made that the Canadian situation has a uniqueness that isn't necessarily transferrable elsewhere. There is, for instance, a long history in the country of anti-Americanism as a potent political force, especially on the left of the political spectrum.
Efforts to distance Canada from the US culturally and intellectually in the 1960s and 1970s were popular and led to a cultural flourishing. And elections in 1911 and 1988 were fought directly over the issue of free trade with the United States.
Major public concerns over American domination of Canada were key in both contests, even though the latter election was a victory for the Progressive Conservative party that advocated free trade with the US. Additionally, a significant element of Canadian identity outside of Quebec has long been defined in oppositional terms to Canada's southern neighbour.
Steve Hewitt, University of Birmingham
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