Keir Starmer Is Smart to Channel Cameron, Not Blair

Confined to a damp, history-burdened island, Britain’s Labour leaders yearn for the glamour and promise of progressive American politics. Tony Blair channeled the youthful energy of John Kennedy when running for office; once there, aided by his friend and rival Gordon Brown, he rapidly made his mark in imitation of Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s famous first 100 days. Keir Starmer, 61, looks comfortable in his new job, but he can’t pretend to be a political Messiah in the mold of either Kennedy or Blair, who both arrived at the political summit aged 43, in happier economic times.

UK voters are pleased to see the back of the squabbling Tories, but, to adapt Blair’s catch-phrase from 1997, it isn’t “a new dawn,” and even Starmer’s cheerleaders admit it. Labour MPs of a nervous disposition note that although Starmer’s lopsided House of Commons majority of 172 exceeds that of Blair in 1997, the party’s share of the vote was a bare 34% on a turnout of less than 60%.