22-05-2025
Jeremy Corbyn can save Britain from Starmer
While Keir Starmer's Government is deeply unpopular, a source of consolation has been that things are even worse for the Opposition. Polling by YouGov earlier this week had the Tories in fourth place, the first time that has happened since the final, shambling days of the May government in 2019. One projection from that data gave the Conservatives just 22 Westminster seats.
But the hole in which the West's most enduringly successful party finds itself can't be detached from wider, systemic issues. In that same poll, Labour recorded just 22 percent of the popular vote. At the next general election, the share for the big two looks likely to hit a post-war low.
Yet while ongoing Conservative failure can be attributed to the rise of Reform, no similar rationalisation exists for Labour. True, the Greens have continued their slow and steady rise, but that doesn't account for the governing party falling to what would be their lowest vote share since 1918.
Fundamentally, the electorate is disenchanted with the political process, and the old loyalties aren't just eroding, but close to being vanquished. Reform getting over the line in Runcorn, despite Labour's extraordinary advantage with data and postal votes, is a testament to that. The Cheshire constituency was Labour's 16th safest.
All of which suggests that, rather than this being the nadir for Keir Starmer, things could deteriorate further. The Green Party is presently in the foothills of a leadership contest, with the populist Zack Polanski facing off against the Countryfile-coded Adrian Ramsay and Ellie Chowns (both represent rural, formerly Conservative constituencies).
Each side has a pitch which is coherent, but it is Polanski's offer which should most concern Labour HQ. His view is that, as the Government moves to the Right, in order to retain a growing cohort of Reform-curious voters, the Greens can pick off seats in more liberal, metropolitan areas.
This isn't entirely speculative. The Greens came second in forty constituencies last July, all but one of which now have Labour MPs. These are all in major urban areas – from Sheffield Central and Liverpool Riverside, to Bristol West and Manchester Gorton.
Yet it is in London where the prize glitters brightest, with the Greens finishing second behind Labour in over two dozen seats. In theory, they could squeeze those areas much as Reform usurped Labour in places like Doncaster and Durham.
Just as the median Reform voter doesn't like Starmer's historic europhilia, or his purported commitment to the liberal zeitgeist on issues like migration, the capital's electors don't support welfare cuts alongside massive increases to defence spending, nor Starmer's increasingly belligerent rhetoric on multiculturalism.
While Ramsay and Chowns' bid for co-leadership makes some sense, with both offering a continuity of recent success, Polanski would seem best placed to take advantage of that.
Then there's the seemingly perennial issue of a new Left party, referenced by Jeremy Corbyn in a speech he recently gave in Huddersfield. Speaking at a gathering of 'The People's Alliance for Change and Equality', a group of campaigners and independents in the Borough of Kirklees, including Iqbal Mohamed, the independent MP for Dewsbury and Batley, the former Labour leader was clear: 'by next year's local elections – long before that I hope – we're going to have something in place that is very clear and everyone will want to be part of and support.'
The fact that Corbyn uttered those words alongside Jamie Driscoll, who came second in last year's North-east mayoral race, and Salma Yaqoob, a stalwart of Stop the War, indicates conversations are relatively advanced. Just weeks earlier, Corbyn spoke at Foyles alongside Andrew Feinstein. The latter stood as an independent in Keir Starmer's constituency of Holborn and St Pancras last July, finishing second.
Other figures in the orbit of such a party, or even wider coalition, might include Leanne Mohammed, who almost overwhelmed Wes Streeting in Ilford last July, and Faiza Shaheen, who stood as an independent in Chingford. Any new Left formation could potentially draw on hundreds of figures like this: in contention to win locally, and at least substantial enough to cost Labour seats.
If you thought this month's local elections were bad for the Conservatives, don't be surprised if something similar happens to Labour in twelve months. Not only will the Welsh Senedd be up for grabs, with Plaid Cymru and Reform set to make major gains at Cardiff, but authorities across urban England – including every council across Greater London – will be contested too. The circumstances could not be more favourable for parties and campaigners to Starmer's Left.
The liberal media has subdued the conversation for months, not least because it's their man in Number 10. But the simple truth is this: all that stands between Labour faring as badly as the Tories in the polls is whether the Left, and the Greens, can build a coordinated electoral alternative.
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