Reeling under worst poll defeat, Labour Party names new leader
UPHILL TASK Keir Starmer, a moderate lawyer, says party has a ‘mountain to climb’
LONDON: Britain’s opposition Labour Party, still reeling from its worst poll defeat in 85 years, elected Keir Starmer as its new leader, putting the moderate lawyer with an eye for detail in charge.
Starmer, 57, who was first elected MP in 2015 and served as the shadow Brexit secretary, defeated Rebecca Long-bailey and Indian-origin Lisa Nandy in the leadership contest.
A former head of prosecutions in the Crown Prosecution Service, Starmer admitted that the party has a “mountain to climb” after the fourth election loss in a row, but promised: “Where that requires change, we will change. Where t hat requires us t o rethink, we will rethink.”
The Indian community has for long supported Labour, mainly due to its stand on immigration, but has been haemorrhaging support from second and third generation members of the community, who have increasingly gravitated to the Conservative Party in recent elections.
Under Corbyn’s leadership, Labour riled many for its stand on Jammu and Kashmir, which has been perceived in New Delhi and the UK as being anti-indian. A resolution adopted at its annual conference in September called for outside intervention in the dispute.
Starmer recalled the party’s past achievements while in government in his acceptance speech: “We created the NHS. We created the welfare state. We passed equalities legislation, the Race Relations Act…but we’ve just lost four elections in a row.”
“We’re failing in our historic purpose. Be in no doubt I understand the scale of the task, the gravity of the position that we’re in. We’ve got a mountain to climb. But we will climb it, and I will do my utmost to reconnect us across the country, to re-engage with our communities.”