A year ago, Keir Starmer’s Labour Party won an overwhelming victory in the UK’s general election, but on barely a third of the total vote. Most analysts thought Starmer would have a lengthy honeymoon period given his huge majority, and the new government started with a leadership determined to maintain discipline, along with a deep suspicion of the Labour left.
A year later, much has changed. Labour has plummeted in the polls, and there is a common view that the parliamentary party has veered to the right and won’t adequately address the sense of inequality, frustration and marginalisation evident across the country.
Within that parliamentary party there is much unease, not least over Gaza, with more than a few MPs showing signs of independent thinking. For the leadership, that is unacceptable and requires discipline – a taste of which has been delivered this week.
