The Starmer Symptom

Major political commentators examine how Britain has changed under a Labour government ‘A vital kickback against national decline. Essential, devastating, and often very funny’ Alex Niven, Editor, Tribune magazine ‘Packed with insightful commentary The Starmer Symptom pinpoints the reasons why Labour is failing to reverse the rise of the Far Right agenda’ Cat Arnold, member of the Labour Party NEC ‘Labour needs to break out of Labourism and remake itself as part of a broader pluralist bloc. Here is the book that brilliantly explains why’ Alan Finlayson, Chair of the Editorial Board, Renewal On 4th July, 2024, fourteen years of Tory gross mismanagement of government, economy and society came to a crashing end. Keir Starmer’s Labour government was elected with a landslide. However, this was more about the Tories losing than Labour winning. The old assumptions have been torn up, and as Starmer’s Labour continues to disappoint, the end of the two-party system heralds a new era of political volatility unseen for generations. The Starmer Symptom navigates the complex terrain of this seismic shift in British politics. How can Labour effect the kind of change our society and climate requires? Has Starmer created the basis for the rise of Reform UK? What alternative is there to the neoliberal present, and future? Why is Labour pursuing austerity economics? Mark Perryman previously edited the collections The Blair Agenda, The Moderniser’s Dilemma and The Corbyn Effect. He is a pioneer of a left culture rooted in the convivial and participative rather than command and control. 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?