It was 14 years of the rule of the Conservative Party that polarised Britain intensely though it is considered a party of stability and harmony. The fractured Conservative rule gave a chance to the opposition Labour Party to come into the governing arena with a bang.
The landslide Labour victory indicated that the British people handed it a resounding electoral victory as it presented itself as an improvement without upheaval that was considered as a credible alternative to a chaotic Conservative government. It must be kept in view that Labour Party governments only come once in a generation but this time the party brought back the memories of the Tony Blair’s dominance of the British politics as it won a majority of more than 170 seats.
Though the leader of the Labour Party Sir Keir Starmer was not as popular as Tony Blair yet his no-nonsense style greatly appealed to the electorate. The extent of the change could be gauged by the fact that some of the biggest names of the Conservative Party lost their seats including 12 cabinet ministers and the former prime minister Liz Truss.
Britain has taken a turn towards the left whereas Europe is veering towards right with Donald Trump rising in the polls in America. In these circumstances the Labour Party has the opportunity to build a modern liberal social democratic polity. Keeping in view that situation Labour Party campaigned on a minimalist platform specifically designed to keep expectations low.
Setting the bar low might be smart politics but the general impression is of vagueness and it may not be easy to bring about a radical change, but this is precisely what the Labour strategy is.
Labour Party also had to face the voter’s apathy whereby it lost two of its expected cabinet ministers particularly the expected chancellor of exchequer. Moreover, it will have to confront the legacy of Brexit Britain where parliamentary sovereignty dominates subordinate institutions and officials. Significantly, in areas with a high proportion of Muslim voters, anger around Labour’s apparent ambivalence over Gaza saw the party lose ground with one of the party’s most effective media performers, Jon Ashworth losing his seat and the now health secretary, Wes Streeting, coming within a whisker of defeat. This indicates that Labour must bring about an adequate change in its policy.
Interestingly, though the Labour Party won nearly two-thirds of the seats in the House of Commons with only a little more than a third of the vote. This means that the Labour Party will govern on the basis of fewer votes even that it achieved in its defeat in 2019. At this juncture it is imperative for the Labour Party to return to familiar aims of focusing on equality, promoting rational political discourse, redistributing power and wealth and effecting a social and economic modernisation.
It is well known that sweeping changes can remake societies so that they are fairer more secure and more prosperous implying an end to shrinking public services and a tight-fisted welfare state. Labour Party should realise that the present-day Britain is considered environmentally unsustainable and its moral grounds are shaky.
The result of the election also brought to fore the collapse of the Conservative Party that could only garner 121 seats. The chaos of the Conservative Party could be seen by the fact that Rishi Sunak was the fifth prime minister in five years. Labour Party’s march was all-pervasive as it cut deep into Conservative territory claiming Hexham, which had been a Conservative seat for a century; Bury St Edmunds, held for even longer and Aldershot, often seen as home of the British army. It is widely anticipated how the Labour Party will govern.
To begin with the party considers immigration as the fifth important issue whereas for the Conservatives it was ranked as their most important. Labour Party’s voters are younger, more likely to hold degrees and less likely to own homes than the Conservatives and it would require pretty radical measures to keep them on track. It is expected that Britain needed as bigger reset and that its government cannot be burdened by doctrine and rhetoric.
The Labour agenda would include revamping the British planning system that is known to have held back investment and building of infrastructure. It also has ambitions to re-industrialise Britain, buoyed by private investment along with rebuilding the dilapidated National Health Service using new technology and preventative treatment and to salvage a criminal-justice system beset by court backlogs and bursting prisons. Labour Party’s immediate task is to bring stability to government so that all associated issues are tackled. It is however observed that despite the sensationalist Labour Party’s victory the future of governance will be an uphill task.
