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You can't implement your policies when you're not in power.
This is the crux of it, though. It deserves more than lip service if Labour is to be more than a pressure party.
I guess the underlying question on my mind is ‘what is Labour?’ Blair redefined it – and prefixed it – in order to gain power. Corbyn seemed to make some ground in reestablishing some more socialist cues. But what is post-Blair, post-Corbyn, mid-Johnson Labour? Right now it doesn’t necessarily feel like Labour; it feels like Starmer.
If the priority is to get the Tories out, then Starmer appears to be the best bet ATM. But if you want a capital-L Labour government, the fastest and most reliable method may be to wait for PM Starmer’s successor.
snoops-
I guess the underlying question on my mind is ‘what is Labour?’ Blair redefined it – and prefixed it – in order to gain power. Corbyn seemed to make some ground in reestablishing some more socialist cues. But what is post-Blair, post-Corbyn, mid-Johnson Labour? Right now it doesn’t necessarily feel like Labour; it feels like Starmer.
What about Brown and Miliband? How is Starmer going to distinguish himself and not end up in that category? It's early days, but so far he's not doing much.
If the priority is to get the Tories out, then Starmer appears to be the best bet ATM.
Any evidence for this? Because I think people need to check their expectations for now.
It does matter. Think of votes lost to the Lib-Dems in 2010, or marginals where votes for third-parties give wins to Tories (Stroud comes immediately to mind).
However, it's also a question of whether it'll cost actual progressive policies. Of course, the simple, and oft-repeated, response to that is "You can't implement your policies when you're not in power," which is of course true. But if in an attempt to gain power you fail to hold the government to account (out of fear you'll scare off their supporters), you're giving them a free walk to fuck over everyone else. And by embracing middle-of-the-road policies attractive to a "natural tory," you only end up becoming part of the status-quo, and potentially pushing the Tories further to the right - which is a place many of them are very happy to go - and your supporters elsewhere.
I don't know what the answer is, but it's not obvious to me that becoming a centrist party fighting with the Tories for their supporters is the way forward. Especially as it's a dwindling demographic.