The Labor party has, wisely, stayed out of the political car crash that has enveloped the government and the Conservative party for the past 48 hours.
Now that Boris Johnson has committed to the the country’s next former prime minister, they may find the political spotlight harder to avoid. Yes, they will try to make as much hay as possible while the sun shines on the unsavory and dramatic events that eventually forced Johnson to accept political reality. And who’s to say that the Conservatives, who have been run over by their current leader, will not continue to implode in an undignified and electorally poisonous way?
But the bets are that they won’t, that they will instead breathe a deep sigh of relief as the melodramas and controversies of the Johnson era come to an end, and continue the task of creating a new, competent, albeit less entertaining leader.
As Neil Kinnock discovered to his chagrin John Major to replace Baroness Thatcher as prime minister in the late 1990s, the public often tire of walking down old paths and reviving the political dramas of the recent past. Instead, they prefer to reassess what the two main parties have to offer in terms of change.
Kinnock had been leader of his party for over seven years at the time, while Major was brand new. Whispers in the shadow cabinet that Labor also needed cosmetic surgery to keep up with its rival were never more than that: whispers. But sager heads concluded that the game was clearly at a disadvantage; they turned out to be right.
As this year draws to a close and voters adjust to their new prime minister, how much will Labor welcome its renewed focus on Keir Starmer and what he has to offer the country? A similar question can be put to: Nicola Sturgeonwho has shamelessly, cynically and repeatedly named Johnson as the English ogre who threatens to burn the Scottish flag and sell the children of Scotland into slavery.
A new political landscape beckons and the uncertainty that hangs over Downing Street is being mimicked in the Conservative Party’s opponents.
Starmer doesn’t have Kinnock’s long life in orbit yet. More importantly, unlike Kinnock, Starmer has not yet been tested for a general election, let alone rejected by the voters. His grey, bank manager character, though dull compared to Johnson’s, was marketed as a comforting antidote to the current prime minister’s unpredictable bombshell. But that schtick won’t fly again once Johnson’s successor is installed in number 10.
Voters should consider: that the change they wanted has already happened, just as Major represented the change many wanted to see in 1990.
Remainers and rejoiners will rejoice today. They should enjoy their victory while it lasts; a sensible conservative party, if it still exists, will not fail to take advantage of the drama of the past two days.