Sir Keir Starmer was elected the Leader of the Labour Party post the worst defeat that his party had faced since 1935. It was also the fourth time in a row that the Labour Party was defeated at a General Election. It was a moment of reckoning for the party as it lost its heartlands in the North-West of England, the traditional working-class seats which had not seen anything but Labour MPs. It’s been around four months since he took office and the changes that he has brought about are visible.
On the other hand, we have another democracy based on the Westminster Parliamentary system, India whose opposition party is in disarray post two consecutive election defeats, the worst and the second-worst in its political history. Its presumptive leader Rahul Gandhi, who resigned last year as the President of the Congress Party is set to return if the rumours in the corridors of Delhi are to be believed. There’s a lot Rahul Gandhi can learn from Sir Keir.
Sir Keir was elected during the lockdown, and he immediately announced his support to the government for tackling the Coronavirus and act as a constructive opposition. He after taking the position started by appointing a shadow cabinet, a British tradition, which represented various sections of the party which were on war with each other after the defeat in December. Sir Keir was a public prosecutor previously and then was the Shadow Minister for Exiting the European Union under Jeremy Corbyn.
Let’s take a look at the working of Sir Keir. He started by apologizing to the Jews in Britain and in the Labour party for the anti-Semitic behaviour that its members resorted to over the past years. He, later on, went to the sack the Shadow Education Secretary, Rebecca Long-Bailey, a fellow leadership contender and a Corbynite who allegedly shared an article with an anti-Semitic conspiracy theory on Twitter. Further, a surprising thing that everyone noticed was the fact that he appointed a shadow cabinet with MPs from the North of England, the area where Labour lost quite a few seats. Therefore, one can say that he has started rejuvenating the party internally.
Sir Keir is seen as much calmer and more composed when compared to his rival, Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Over the past months, at Prime Minister Questions, a weekly affair where the MPs ask questions to the Prime Minister, Sir Keir has shown that he is a man of details and believes in constructive opposition. He has rattled the Prime Minister with tough questions about the work his government is doing. The Prime Minister often finds him startled by the details quoted by Starmer in his questions.
The opinion polls ratings, which were going through the roof for Boris Johnson after he announced the lockdown and him falling ill, have taken a turn. The latest poll by Opinium shows that the lead for the Conservative party over Labour has come down to 4 per cent from around 20 per cent some time back. Similarly, people who approve of Keir Starmer’s work is at 44 per cent compared to Boris Johnson’s 36 per cent. Although, we need to take into consideration the fact that he hasn’t announced his policy platform till now and the numbers are expected to change after that.
Rahul Gandhi has a lot to learn from him. He should start by appointing a shadow cabinet. Congress’ position has been undermined by its leaders on various matters. A shadow cabinet will help end this uncertainty in the position of the party. Sanjay Jha, the suspended member of the Congress also suggested a similar measure.
Mr Gandhi can learn from the way Keir Starmer is working for changing the party. Congress is out of touch. Transforming the party by reenergizing the cadres and going back to the public is what he needs to do. The views of Congress netas about the Surgical strikes and various other issues related to national security have caused damage to the Congress in North India, mainly. He should focus on detail and be on top of the multiple policies that India needs. One cannot fail to notice that Congress criticized the government every time, but most of it wasn’t even constructive. This frustrates the electorate and alienates them further.
There’s another thing that the Congress party can learn from the British Party system—getting rid of leaders who have lost elections. The Congress post defeats turn to Gandhi’s who aren’t very famous currently. The problem here is the culture that the party has cultivated which kills talent and doesn’t allow ambitious youngsters to reach high posts.
Mr Gandhi has another four years to prove the mettle of his leadership or else he should give way to someone much more talented and well placed to win the country back for the Congress.
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