Sir Keir Starmer: He lacks Conviction and is on a passive path to power

London (YPI) -- It appears to many as though Boris Johnson’s unpopularity has allowed for Sir Keir Starmer to, rather passively, become the favourite for the upcoming general election. The expression of his views is kept to the minimum - for so long as he stays quiet and succeeds in not upsetting his voters - then as is quite collectively agreed, he shall become Prime Minister.

 

The recent No Confidence vote in Boris Johnson has shown that 41% MPs of his own party, have lost confidence in his leadership, a figure which many commentators believe is too low for Johnson to continue on as leader. Jeremy Corbyn’s disastrous failure played partly to Johnson’s early success.

 

Leo, a young tory who was interviewed by YPI, compared Corbyn to Starmer: “Jeremy Corbyn and Sir Kier Starmer are vastly different so far, with Jeremy Corbyn being very clear and concise on his views and policies.” He then went on to argue that “It is quite difficult to judge Starmer as he is really lacking in conviction and nobody really knows what he stands for.” Starmer’s lack of conviction can be interpreted in various ways.

 

                                                    The most apparently truthful interpretation, however, is not cowardice - but fear. Starmer is                                                               fearful that any radical move he makes would result in an alike political deterioration to that                                                           experienced by Corbyn. He thus attempts to achieve centrality on the political spectrum to                                                             ensure that he utilises the negative momentum of Johnson, rather than his own positive                                                                 momentum - as his own momentum is, indeed, stationary. “With how little substance and                                                               Policy Starmer currently has, I can not begin to believe that he would win on any sort of vote                                                         other than one motivated by Anti-Johnsonism,” as it was put by Leo.

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                                                     Once this can be recognised, anyone can respect Corbyn’s conviction (however         ....................................................liking/disliking of his policies) over Starmer’s, fear driven, lack of conviction. As Leo stated: “I have a positive of Corbyn simply because he made his views known stuck to them but then from a Tory point of view I like Keir because he doesn’t do that and I believe that benefits us.”

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Confidence for Johnson is “actively fading” - with even those who retain trust in Johnson’s leadership, doubting his ability to emerge victorious in the upcoming General Election. As Leo perceived: “I believe if an election was held today Keir Starmer would be Prime Minister. However, I do have faith that Boris Johnson will be able to pull back before the next general election. Although that faith is actively fading.”

 

The fading faith in Johnson aids in a compulsion of the British people to favour the leader of the opposition party, as a better candidate for holding the premiership than Johnson. But even Labour have failed to attract the future of the political liberal movement, with the “woke” youth progressing farther under the veil of the Greens and Lib Dems - seemingly unmoved or even confused by Labour’s lack of conviction and centrism.

 

In a YPI poll of 23 people, it was discovered that 73.9% of those surveyed believed that Labour are less successful in attracting young liberals than the Lib Dems. This era of Starmer centrism is already a disaster for the Labour movement. No matter however much their movement is agreed with - people undeniably respect a leader who exhibits certitude on their positions. Were Starmer to be put under the political spotlight of scrutiny as Prime Minister - then the disaster for Labour would only worsen.

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But as Leo argues: an era of Starmer as Prime Minister is not a certainty. For so long that “Johnson [can] get back to his manifesto promise and lower taxes greatly while also tackling the Cost of living, in a way that shows clear change to those at the bottom of society (which I believe can be done through the Levelling up Agenda.)”