Why has Labour become ‘successful’ as it tracks center-right?

OK, I’ve never been a fan of Labour because I consider myself to be of the left. I decided at an early political age that Labour was not for me particularly because of its controlling, authoritarian tendencies. Also, I gained the impression that Labour really does not like free-thinking members, rather members who go along with the ruling sect of the time no matter what that sect may be promoting.

Well having read so far you’ll probably be saying to yourself ’this chap’s a damn Liberal’ and you’d be right, although I consider myself to be a Social Liberal of the left, often well to the left of many Labour Party members and supporters.

My final reason for being unwilling to embrace the politics of Labour is that I’ve found so many of their supporters to be quite right wing in outlook, in reality Conservatives yet tribally Labour. This was clearly demonstrated by huge numbers of Labour members and supporters backing Brexit and then delivering Johnson as PM! That loss of Labour’s voters is, of course, the obvious reason why Starmer’s Labour Party, looks/sounds and is, in my view, right-of-centre. How else is he to return the lost souls to the Labour tent other than by telling them Labour’s now one of their own?

Labour is no longer a party of the centre-left and whilst it has never really been a truly socialist party, there’s always been many socialists within it. Even under Corbyn the leading characters whilst clearly socialists delivered manifestos which weren’t overtly socialist to my mind. There can’t be many socialists left in Starmer’s Labour Party as they’re clearly unwelcome; some have been invited to leave, others have walked away.

But such is the Labour Party, they’ve always swung from one left-of-centre sect to another kicking lumps out of themselves in the process. However, we are in unique times now because of the almost complete collapse of the Conservative Party. It’s this collapse which I feel has driven Labour to all but become a new ‘one nation’ alternative right-of-centre party. Indeed, our unique political circumstances have, I would suggest, given an opportunity to those who want to change Labour fundamentally.

This is no longer the party of John Smith or Harold Wilson, more the party of David Owen being about as far right as a social democrat party can be and probably Christian Democrat in European terms. If some Labour members and supporters thought the Blair years were too centrist and even of the right (and they did) what on earth are they thinking about the further nudge towards right-of-centre politics?

But Labour’s saving grace, at is core, is that many of its tribal members and supporters will back it pretty much no matter what it stands for and in early 2024 what does Labour actually stand for? Its ‘popularity’ is because the Tories are so unpopular, not because Starmer is inspiring or that it is putting forward a popular set of policies.

It seems that voters are saying they’re going to vote Labour because it’s not the Conservative Party. They can’t be hoping for a better tomorrow, because Labour is hardly offering one, more that they hope things will be less bad! Little if any hope is promised by Labour spokespersons just that Labour will pretty much continue similar economic policies to the Conservatives but that those policies will be more competently delivered. That’s quite a political offer, NOT, but it seems for many voters this far from golden future may be the only alternative to further decline?

Any left of centre political hope or indeed leadership has to come from the Lib Dems, Greens and in Scotland the SNP. This could be the most depressing general election in many generations because the two main political parties aren’t going to be offering hope at all. The Tory offer will be goodness knows what. They don’t seem at all keen to deliver on their manifesto pledges as they flop around from one right wing divisive policy to the next as though blown by the cold wind of the far right. Labour, well they’ll just be a bit better at it, a bit kinder but following a very similar economic plan.

Forgive me if I don’t find this appallingly dreadful political prospect appealing…