A New Era? Keir Starmer’s Labour Leadership
| DOI | 10.1177/2041905820978830 |
| Author | Christopher Massey |
| Published date | 01 December 2020 |
| Date | 01 December 2020 |
4 POLITICAL INSIGHT • DECEMBER 2020
When Keir Starmer took the
stage at the Labour Party’s
2020 virtual conference
in September, both the
world and his party were very dierent places
than one year previously. Standing behind
a podium adorned with the motto ‘a new
leadership’, Starmer used his rst conference
speech as Labour leader to rmly distance
himself from his predecessor, Jeremy Corbyn.
Starmer sought to place an identiable gap
between his leadership and his predecessor’s.
‘Never again,’ the leader declared, ‘will
Labour go into an election not being trusted
A New Era? Keir
Starmer’s Labour
Leadership
Just how different is Keir Starmer from his predecessor, Jeremy
Corbyn? Christopher Massey examines the new Labour Party leader’s
first months in office and finds that while the policy platform has
remained similar, public perceptions are starkly different.
on national security, with your job, with your
community and with your money. That’s what
being under new leadership means’. However,
whilst this approach seems to have resonated
with the public, how much has changed in
Starmer’s Labour Party below the surface?
Despite Starmer’s pronouncements, few
alterations have been made to Labour policy
under his leadership. His careful criticisms
of the Conservative Government, and quiet
abandonment of a small number of Labour
policies have only partially masked the
commitment he made to uphold the majority
© Press Association
Political Insight December 2020 BU.indd 4Political Insight December 2020 BU.indd 4 10/11/2020 15:4610/11/2020 15:46
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