Another Lost Election

It's getting to be a habit. Keir Starmer lost another election on Saturday. Even the dogs in the street knew Lucy Powell was going to win Labour's deputy leadership contest, and did so with by a convincing margin. With 54.3% of the vote versus "popular with the unions" Bridget Phillipson and her 45.7%, this exercise in democracy had to contend less with each other and more with generalised indifference. The turn out, a shade over 16%, is demonstrative of how the "debate" between the two stirred up nothing but apathy among the ranks. Though one should note this went out to affiliated members, which flatters the party by burying the real membership figures. Which, for now, remain under wraps.

This is another reminder that when put to the electoral test, there is no appetite for open Starmerism. Even among an electorate one might expect to be favourably disposed, thanks to his steering Labour back into office. And so the less-than-optimal scenario has come to pass, an eventuality that wouldn't have happened had Starmer not turfed Powell out. Instead, we might have got a pointless show contest between Phillipson and someone similarly ineffectual, like Alison McGovern. But Powell is savvy enough not to cause much in the way of bother. She knows when to let the leadership dig their own grave, and is only likely to stick her oar in if the government does something stupid. Seeing as Rachel Reeves's next budget is due in a month, the probability of Number 10 and Number 11 standing on another rake is not low.

Flanked by more flags than a far right march, Powell's victory speech was full of the usual platitudes. Labour through-and-through, championing our values, "boldness". She has to say these things because Starmer's claims to them are tenuous at best. She said that "Unity and loyalty comes from collective purpose – not from command and control". A devastating broadside against the last five years, I'm sure you'll agree. If that's her most pointed criticism even this rigidly brittle Labour leadership can cope with that.

It's not Powell hitting the headlines that Starmer and Morgan McSweeney have to worry about. It's what goes on beneath the surface. McSweeney had a lot of fun over the years frustrating Angela Rayner, particularly where it came to blocking her allies in the North West region from getting safe seats. But as Powell has made a point of not wanting to return to cabinet, she more or less has the free run of the party machine. Her "Lucy Listens" initiative "designed" to reconnect the membership to the leaders might, coincidentally, prove to be a handy information gathering exercise for a leadership campaign. As the Westminster chatter about replacing Starmer is getting louder, I'm naively wondering which would-be leader closely associated with Powell could profit from the building of a network of contacts, and having a ringside seat listening to members' complaints? It's a mystery.