What will it take for Labour and the Tories to realise how bad their situation is? Reform’s by-election victory in Runcorn and Helsby is symbolic of a much wider success, with support for Westminster’s two traditional parties falling through the floor. Britain’s traditional two-party electoral system has morphed into a multi-party system because voters are angry and disillusioned with what is on offer from the establishment. Yet even now, neither Labour nor the Tories appear to have the political wits to grasp the scale of the challenge posed to their duopoly.
Take Keir Starmer. He reacted to the setback in the polls with the observation that the results were ‘disappointing’. It is not exactly the word other observers might choose for the electoral catastrophe of losing one of Labour’s safest seats to Reform. Speaking to reporters, Starmer said: ‘What I want to say is, my response is we get it.’ He added that his party had ‘started that work’ with changes such as reductions in NHS waiting lists, before continuing: ‘I am determined that we will go further and faster on the change that people want to see.’
The problem for Starmer is that there are few politicians who convey less of a sense of determination or conviction.
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