LABOUR’S LEFT LEAVING STARMER WELL ALONE, FOR THE TIME BEING

SIR Keir Starmer will have to get used to a chorus of “we told you so” this weekend.

Labour’s hard-Left is already in full voice blaming their party leader for yet another round of catastrophic election defeats.

Former frontbenchers including John McDonnell and Diane Abbott suggest his straying from the path of Corbynism is the reason for the poll meltdown.

They conveniently ignore the fact that Jeremy Corbyn’s brand of semi-Marxist socialism led to Labour’s worst defeat since the 1930s in 2019.

Labour’s Left loves to find a losing formula and stick to it. Hardliners would love to force out Starmer and put a Corbynite true believer in his place. Ian Lavery, the party chairman under Corbyn, and the rising backbench star Zarah Sultana are both being talked about among Left-wing activists as contenders.

Yet despite the hunger for a leadership challenge among some grassroots members, there is no sign the Left has the necessary 40 MPs ready to publicly back a challenger and trigger a contest.

For the present, their cry is for a “change of direction” rather than a new face at the top.

Since Corbyn stood down, Labour has resisted any attempt to seriously reconsider its ideology and purpose. Instead, front benchers make bland statements about the need to listen to voters, hoping Brexit will fade as an issue.

As a result, the party comes across to many voters as constantly carping about the Government’s handling of the Covid pandemic without offering a genuine alternative.

Starmer’s critics are unwilling to force him out or keep quiet out of loyalty. Like Gordon Brown, the Labour leader faces torment from opponents unwilling to land a final blow.

He faces the grim prospect of having to stagger on in his job with his party in a permanent state of civil war.