Sanjaya Baru | A vote that could make Britain feel Great again

The Labour Party’s victory, impressive in terms of seats won but not overwhelming in terms of the vote share gained, is the first sign of hope for a beleaguered Britain. For close to a decade, Britain has been forced to deal with the consequences of an entirely avoidable referendum. Four Conservative Party Prime Ministers -- Theresa May, Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak -- have had to devote their lacklustre tenures to cleaning up the mess left by David Cameron. The 2016 referendum on Brexit was an elaborate bluff that got called. In its wake, Britain has been adrift.

Given the shape of the economy, that even a finance whiz kid like Rishi Sunak could not significantly improve, and the emerging deep social and political divisions within, it will require considerable wisdom and energy on the part of Sir Keir Starmer for the country to stabilise and move forward.

Many factors went into Mr Starmer’s impressive victory but none more important than the sheer incompetence of the Conservative Party in addressing the real challenges facing a declining power. By the end of the 20th century, membership of the European Union gave Britain a salience in world affairs that neither its membership of the United Nations Security Council nor its nuclear power status nor indeed its leadership of the Commonwealth were able to. In an act of utter mis-judgment of the public mood, Prime Minister Cameron took a step that was much like pushing Humpty Dumpty off the wall.

Britain’s fall from the high horse that Margaret Thatcher mounted, and Tony Blair successfully rode, occurred after Mr Blair’s contemptuous decision to play second fiddle to US President George W. Bush and the American “neo-cons” by going along with the fiction about Saddam Hussein’s “weapons of mass destruction”. The Iraq campaign ended Mr Blair’s and Britain’s post-Cold War place in the sun. A divided island reposed faith in a set of spoilt rich kids. Their party ended last week.

Rattled by the incompetence of an entitled elite, best symbolised by Boris Johnson, the Conservatives finally turned to a smart, rich Indian boy, Rishi Sunak, who prayed to English cows and Indian gods, to try to bail them out. What Britain needed was not a money manager but a people’s man. Sir Keir Starmer fits the bill. A typical Labour Party type -- left of centre, liberal and born into a family of simple folk, Mr Starmer promised to be the kind of guy that ordinary folk hope would deliver them out of the mess left by the rich brats.

Prime Minister Starmer has his work cut out for him. Britain may be unable to turn the clock back on Brexit, but it can still pull itself up by its bootstraps. Britain has young people, it has brains, it has global reach and it still has some clout. All it needed was a political leader whom people could trust and feel comfortable with. Mr Starmer has the potential to deliver.

While the political left and right are knocking at the door of Britain’s political centre, the Labour Party victory gives hopes to Europe’s centrists who are all panicking at the prospect of a swerve to the right. The message from Britain to Europe is that political leadership matters. Smart managers can run governments in normal times, but when politics becomes contentious parties require political leadership. Centrist parties in Europe are at present saddled with unimpressive political leaders while right-wing parties have rambunctious, if not charismatic, leaders. Of course, Mr Starmer was not the type who could set the Thames on fire, but he is way more charismatic than smart Rishi Sunak.

Mr Starmer’s real work in the foreseeable future will be at home. He has to focus on employment, education, healthcare, public infrastructure and government finances.

As for Britain’s place in the world, like for so many other countries, what it does at home will determine what it can do overseas. To begin with, it is unlikely that Britain can reverse the clock on Brexit. It will wait to see the results of the elections in the United States to get a measure of the future of its so-called “special relationship” with America.

Managing China and Russia will remain an area of major concern. Hence, in the Indo-Pacific region, Mr Starmer can be expected to stay the course set by his Conservative predecessors. That is, membership of AUKUS (Australia-UK-US defence alliance) and closer strategic partnership with Japan. However, on Ukraine, Britain needs to rethink its role. Mr Sunak showed excessive enthusiasm in his support for Ukraine. Maybe he was compelled to do so by the British and US “Deep State”. As a political leader with a fresh mandate, Mr Starmer can afford to take a political view, independent of the pressure exerted by MI6 and other state agencies, and decide how far Britain would go in its support for President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Mr Starmer has assured Indian interlocutors that he would seek friendly relations with India. He may deliver on that front, giving the Labour Party a new direction on South Asian affairs. How new remains to be seen. Conservative Party PMs have had a tendency to focus too much on foreign affairs, partly because that makes them feel they still belong to “Great Britain”. Labour Party governments have tended to focus on domestic affairs to make Britain feel Great. Tony Blair’s mistake was to acquire that Conservative affliction of having an exaggerated view of Britain’s place in the world.

Mr Starmer would benefit not just from focusing on the home front but also from acquiring a realistic assessment of British influence globally.

This means: (a) London having a mind of its own and not turning to Washington DC for guidance; (b) restoring balance in relations with Europe and the Commonwealth; and, (c) stabilising the economy.

All said and done, Britain is a most interesting country. Despite the deep divisions within along class, race and religious lines, it remains a liberal and creative society that still attracts bright young people from all over the world, including from India and China. Britain has made and continues to make significant contributions in the world of science, technology, literature, art, architecture, music and cinema.

Therefore, it was sad and tragic to see this nation led by the likes of badly behaved Boris, dumb Liz and Johnny-come-lately Rishi. Sir Keir Starmer is more reassuring.