04.07.24: Fourteen years of Tory gross mismanagement of government, economy and society came to a crashing and well-deserved end. Keir Starmer's Labour government was elected with a landslide of seismic proportions.
But with a huge Parliamentary majority delivered on a share of the vote that would ordinarily spell defeat, this was more about the Tories losing than Labour winning. The old assumptions have been torn up. Throw into the mix an increasingly five-party (six in Scotland) system where once it was two and the potential for electoral volatility if Labour ends up disappointing is obvious.
The Starmer Symptom brings together leading political writers to navigate the complex terrain of this seismic shift in British politics. This unique collection analyses voter data, and looks at the break-up of the two-party system with the rise of a populist right in Reform UK and a new independent left. Will Keir Starmer's government be able to successfully combine the pragmatic and social democratic to produce radical change? And if not, who is waiting in the wings?
Table of Contents:
Foreword - Clive Lewis MP
Introduction - Mark Perryman
1. Testing the Limits of Labourism - Mark Perryman
Part One - Mapping the Hope
2. Did Labour Win or the Tories Lose? - Paula Surridge
3. No Direction Home: The Non-Politics of Starmerism - Jeremy Gilbert
4. Even Boring People Can Be Dangerous - Gargi Bhattacharyya
5. Son of a Toolmaker - Joe Kennedy
Part Two - The Fallout
6. Time to Reshuffle the Labour Left - Neal Lawson
7. A Conservative Meltdown - Phil Burton-Cartledge
8. The Resistible Rise of the Reform UK - Joe Mullhall
9. Making the Case for an Independent Left - Hilary Wainwright
Part Three - Change, Stability, Contradictions
10. How to Transform an Unequal Britain - Danny Dorling
11. There is Always an Alternative - James Meadway
12. No Democratic Reform, No Change - Jess Garland
13. From Climate Emergency to National Renewal - Andrew Simms
Part Four - The Outcomes
14. Labour According to Morgan McSweeney - Emma Burnell
15. The Unions Make Us Strong - Gregor Gall
16. Biting the Hand That Doesn't Feed Us - Yasmin Alibhai-Brown
Pragmatic, Social Democratic, Radical - Eunice Goes
Part Five - Understanding Keir Starmer's Labour Party
A Guide to Labour Battleground Seats at the Next General Election
Symptom of What? Further Reading and Other Resources
Afterwords
Notes on Contributors
Ackhnowledgements
Index
About the Author :
Mark Perryman's previous books include The Corbyn Effect, The Moderniser's Dilemma and The Blair Agenda. A pioneer of a left culture rooted in the convivial and participative rather than command and control, Mark mixes politics and culture as the co-founder of the self-styled 'sporting outfitters of intellectual distinction', Philosophy Football.
Review :
'A vital kickback against national decline, ranging over the aimless, joyless landscape of Britain under Grey Labour. Mark Perryman has persuaded some of the fiercest, most eloquent polemicists in the land to examine, expose and ultimately eviscerate one of the lamest leaders in Labour history'
'The core of the argument is that Labour needs to break out of Labourism and remake itself a part of a broader pluralist bloc. Labour absolutely should be like this, here is a book that brilliantly explains why it has never been'
'Had me cheering on the writers and their arguments as they interrogated the symptoms of a Labour Party that has undermined its own potential for change. Left me asking, what is this bloody huge parliamentary majority for?!'
'A book that provides a theoretical critique of Starmerism which is both extremely accessible and entirely non-intimidating, no mean feat when drawing on thinkers such as Gramsci and Stuart Hall'
'A very stimulating, accessible, and engaging read. By drawing on a wide range of theoretical and historical sources, Mark Perryman advances our understanding of Starmer's project, its prospects, and its implications'
'Keir Starmer decries the existence of Starmerism. Yet his actions as Prime Minister tell a different story - he has a discernible political project. Mark Perryman and the authors tease out the underlying shape of what this 'Starmerism' is and could still be. An invaluable contribution to thinking about Labour politics today'
