Our Keir Starmer Journey
2024-09-22 18:15:00 +07:00 by Mark Smith
I like the Andrew Rawnsley, and Toby Helm’s roundup of Starmer’s first 11 weeks in office.
There’s a bit of controversy around gifts and staff salaries, but on closer look he seems to be mostly being very practical. He’s not afraid to point out where the other side left a mess, but I like that he’s also not afraid of accepting responsibility. This conscientious approach ties in rather well with this house redecoration metaphor he’s been going for. It all feels very sensible. At the minute he sounds like a tremendously good house renovation expert. And that’s great. It feels safe.
Nevertheless there’s this yearning to get a feel for his wider ambitions for the country because I think people realise that a country is in fact more complicated than a house. Having a small glimpse of his vision, even if it’s just a description of the house he sees, would give us an idea of what he thinks might be possible. And that’s important because it’s not just about him, it’s about the team around him, the institutions around him, and all the rest of it, and he’s the one with the best visibility of that right now.
I think people want to understand what he feels is possible. Maybe it’s a complete refurb of everything, or maybe it’s just a few key rooms in the house, or maybe it’s just to be in maintenance mode for a while only changing the furniture. People will likely be fine with most of the possibilities as long as it’s feasible, as long as it’s achievable.
In this article they mention the "house redecoration" metaphor, cleaning up cracks and mold, but I seem to remember reading or hearing elseshere about "house renovation" as the metaphor with suggestion of more foundational changes. The country is a much more multi-dimensional and realtime changing complexity thing than a house. It’s more like a giant living organism. That's why a description of his vision is so important, or even just an honest description of his approach to finding the right vision fit for the nation if it hasn’t been compleately figured out yet.
I wonder whether Starmer has some Elon Musk qualities in him. Perhaps even dare I say it a better, more british version of Elon Musk. I hesitate to mention Musk as I know he’s a bit of an enfant terrible at the minute, especially among UK elites, but wouldn’t it be cool if Starmer got the country firing on all cylinders in a way comparable to how Musk is helping to push US tech forward.
I keep thinking back to the unbelievable Danny Boyle London Olympics opening ceremony. That really was something wasn’t it? I want this Labour journey to be the next chapter in that story, but even better, less painful, more fun, and even more incredible and amazing. Are we just taking on a new scene in that story, or a whole new section, or is it all just foundational stuff to even make that a possibility? It’s all good.
Where are we at Keir mate, what do you reckon?
PS - In the original version of this article I confused Keir with Keith. Totally unintentional. That’s the sort of thing that happens in hectic environments. I did know Keir was Keir, but for some reason, I suppose because it’s not a name my brain is familiar with, Keir became Keith, and I just realised it now. Sorry mate, I’ve updated the article and url. #