Britain's Establishment Has a New Senior Member
As Boris Johnson lies ill in hospital with the coronavirus, at least Britain’s opposition Labour Party now has a grown-up leader in Keir Starmer.
Time to clean house.
Photographer: Hollie Adams/Getty Images EuropeIt seems a bleak time to make the observation that Britain is in good hands. There’s a lot to worry about: the still rising death toll from Covid-19; the strain on the National Health Service; the shortages of personal protective equipment; and the pressure on economic well-being and mental health that a prolonged period of isolation will bring. All of this while Prime Minister Boris Johnson lies in intensive care.
It’s also true, as I noted yesterday, that Britain is not as well set-up constitutionally for such leadership crises as other countries. Still, the stability of the U.K.’s governing system lies in its institutions — among them, Her Majesty’s opposition, the Labour Party, which for a long time has itself been suffering from a bout of ill health. The election of Keir Starmer as Labour leader Saturday, succeeding Jeremy Corbyn, brings the hope that a party torn by factionalism, dominated by ideologues and rendered electorally impotent will again become a constructive force in British politics.