UK Politics

Starmer has always felt to me like there is two versions of him. The stuff he as A Person believes and values - which is best displayed through his work before politics - and Starmer, The Politician, who understands that to change things you must first be in power.

The Person is well documented through his legal career, clearly someone who values human rights, due process, is against the death penalty, has no problem with prosecuting celebrities and politicians, etc. If he never entered parliament, I doubt anyone could claim he's a tory.

But as Starmer, The Politician, it's clear he's willing to modify what he says and offers as a platform depending on the audience. He isn't a populist - clearly - but it would be denial to claim his platform hasn't changed between winning the Labour leadership, and the 2024 general election. I think it's pretty obvious that he adopted a platform he thought would win the leadership, and then switched to one that would win at a general election.

What interests me is how much of The Person remains behind the moderation of The Politician.

Reading the 2024 manifesto, there is a lot of good Labour policy in there. Removing the VAT exemption on private schools is not really a financial decision (as it is being presented by The Politician) but a values judgement that rich people should not get subsidies for luxury goods or services. The same goes for non-doms.

I also think there is a thread of that thinking in the winter fuel payment decision. I absolutely think setting the bar at pension credit is too low, but people like my parents who have workplace pensions in addition to state absolutely do not need to be given hundreds of pounds a year to help with bills they can already easily afford.

The same also goes for landowners complaining about no longer paying diddly squat inheritance tax on land. Is the line too low? Possibly. Is the principle wrong? Absolutely not.

See also lords reform, nationalisation of the railways, infrastructure investment, decarbonising electricity, and a bunch of other stuff.

But if you look at how The Politician talks about a lot of this stuff, it is absolutely presented in ways which are clearly aimed at the Daily Mail, etc. How successful that strategy will be over time will be interested - and I suspect is flawed - but the actions really do matter more than the words.

That is not to say that I think everything is perfect, I don't. I continue to be a trustee and volunteer at my local foodbank because of the system still being fundamentally broken, and I don't think The Politician will be the person to fix that. But, I do think some progress is being made in some areas.