Starmer trying to win by repeating Blairite strategies says expert
David Cameron’s Cabinet comeback has electrified Westminster. Rishi Sunak’s supporters have rushed to declare it a masterstroke while his Conservative critics take it as the latest sign yet that the Tory Right is being sold down the river.
The new Foreign Secretary has dominated the headlines, relegating Suella Braverman’s sacking to a relative footnote. Reshuffling Cameron into government marks a decisive shift in the Prime Minister’s strategy, junking his attempt at Tory conference last month to pose as an agent of change fighting against “30 years of failed consensus”.
Bringing back the former Prime Minister means the Cabinet is strengthened with someone of proven gravitas and statesmanship. Labour has long lived in the shadow of its triple election-winning leader, Sir Tony Blair, so should he expect to be called up by Prime Minister Starmer one day?
At the moment, Sir Keir and his allies are not entertaining the idea. They have mocked Cameron’s comeback, accusing Sunak of leading the same old Tories.
But would he seriously be happy taking the current shadow cabinet into power? Few of them have made any impact on the great British public.
The biggest beast he can boast of in that team is Ed Miliband – known to many as the man who did not just lose the 2015 election – but also lost against a bacon sandwich.
Given this, it is easy to imagine Prime Minister Starmer pining for fresh talent.
Sunak prompted accusations by picking Cameron that he thought none of the 350 Tory MPs were fit to be Foreign Secretary.
In the same spirit, Starmer might struggle to find the right people in Labour’s ranks, especially given how many fervent Corbynites there would still be after the election.
So who better to turn to than Sir Tony Blair? He already has a knighthood so a peerage would be a seamless step up.
Sir Tony is already being talked up on the international scene for a role in helping bring peace to the Middle East, which suggests a widespread recognition that he still yearns to be a political player.
Could Prime Minister Starmer deliver that by appointing Sir Tony as his Foreign Secretary?
The argument for it would be similar to what Conservatives say now about Cameron, namely that he would be a rockstar diplomat with a contacts book that was second to none.
Of course, he would risk plunging Labour into its ugliest civil war yet by suggesting there was no longer any home in the party for Blair haters.
So the Labour leader will be relieved that he does not need to draft in Sir Tony. That’s not because his team is strong enough without him. It’s more because Sir Tony has a tight enough grip on Labour to be able to call the shots.
The former Prime Minister has already built up the highly influential the Tony Blair Institute, whose work will be critical in shaping the next Labour manifesto.
Where Sir Keir faces a policy vaccum, Sir Tony’s wonks will be eager to fill it.
He has not just built Labour’s ideas factory in effect. He has also helped to train many of Sir Keir’s lieutenants.
Six members of the shadow cabinet cut their teeth as special advisers in the Blair government: Miliband, Jonathan Ashworth, Pat McFadden, Hilary Benn, Liz Kendall and Peter Kyle.
Arch-Blairite Lord Mandelson has been a regular source of advice for Sir Keir as well.
The Labour leader has been open about the fact he talks to predecessors like Sir Tony, so it would not be hard for him to pitch the idea of a return to government under his premiership. But giving him a department to run risks actually limiting his influence.
Veteran Blairites may long for their election-winning messiah to return to power, but Sir Tony would not need to join the Cabinet to get his way.
As momentous as David Cameron’s return has been, Sir Tony could pull off a comeback which blows that out of the water. He would not need to join Prime Minister Starmer’s Cabinet to get his way, preferring instead to remain a free agent pulling the strings from afar.
A future Labour government may be run by Starmer in name only. In truth, Sir Tony would be the real Prime Minister.
- Support fearless journalism
- Read The Daily Express online, advert free
- Get super-fast page loading
Source: Read Full Article