The Labour Party’s victory in the UK’s general election is largely due to the efforts of its leader Keir Starmer to adopt a more center-left position. Starmer has continuously sent friendly signals to the business community, and tried to dispel the middle and upper classes’ concerns about possible substantial tax increases. He has also taken a pragmatic stance on geopolitical conflicts and showed his “patriotic” side on immigration issues, so as not to alienate conservative voters.
The Labour Party’s victory reversed the overall downturn of the European left to a certain extent. For European politics, the return of the center-left Labour Party to power shows that the moderate centrists still maintain strong political momentum.
The Labour Party showed a valuable self-restraint over its landslide victory in the general election and appeared to be cautious of the challenges it faces. It understands that this victory is largely due to the disorder of the Conservative Party rather than the UK public being convinced it is capable of clearing up the mess created and left by the Conservatives. The Labour Party must show it is capable of effectively improving the situation of the working class, who will otherwise be susceptible to the glib fixes promised by the right-wing nationalists as has been the case elsewhere in Europe.
But like the Conservative Party, the Labour Party is facing the problem of internal factional division. Although the party is temporarily united in the face of the challenge of the general election, after it comes to power, the left wing within the Labour Party will undoubtedly put pressure on the mainstream centralists, leading to frictions and infighting within the party.
It should also be noted that the far right has also made a breakthrough in the general election. The Reform UK Party grabbed about 14 percent of the votes. This shows that immigration continues to be an issue. It can be said that the UK’s political arena is becoming increasingly more complex than before, reflecting voters’ dissatisfaction with the status quo and their desire for change. The overall crisis of the deterioration of the British political ecology has not been eliminated. The Labour Party needs to quickly rebuild voters’ confidence in mainstream politics.
21ST CENTURY BUSINESS HERALD