COMMENT Well, whatever else, it was a great night’s telly. However you look at it, this is Sir Keir Starmer’s personal victory. When he took over as Labour leader in January 2020, Labour looked totally unelectable. So Thursday was a truly extraordinary achievement.
In the less-than-five years since he’s been in charge, Starmer has ruthlessly reshaped his party, expelled Jeremy Corbyn – “pour encourager les autres” – and binned off almost all of the policy platform from 2017. Make no mistake, the long-road-to-socialism mob are to be kept at bay. EG readers might even allow themselves to be cautiously encouraged.
Tactical voting truly is a wonder to behold. The Great British public has given Labour a very large mandate but on a relatively low share of the vote. It was a nothing short of a punishment beating for the Tories, not for ideological reasons, but for sheer incompetence and chaos. Starmer now leads the biggest parliamentary party since 1997, but with many of his newbies nursing very small majorities.
Vigilence is key
He will dominate the new parliament and the new parliamentary Labour Party. But very big majorities are notoriously difficult to manage; it may be a nice problem to have but it is a problem, nonetheless. Discipline will be everything. Indeed, he will need to remain ruthless and vigilant with the party faithful.
But our own industry responds rather well to ruthless leadership. The British Property Federation will be making this point. Certainly, we’ll respond very well indeed if the new prime minister is as ruthless in his mission to invest in our infrastructure and rebuild our economy – even if there’s no money in the kitty. Starmer’s only real strategy for paying for things is that of economic growth – with an ambitious target of 2.5% growth in the economy per annum. And it is this that the property sector needs to grab with both hands. It is this that we need to populate.
And the new PM has made an energetic start. He appointed his cabinet within hours and – despite widespread rumours – it is exactly as the shadow team. The message is clear: stability. Contrary also to the popular view of the chatterati, he hasn’t changed the name of the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. My guess is that it was too costly, too disruptive and – very simply – just not a priority. Bravo. And brilliant signals have been sent by the appointments of Sir Patrick Vallance to be minister for science, and James Timpson to be minister for prisons. What? Put people who know what they are doing in charge? How very novel.
Emphasis on growth
So apart from the return of the rule of law and dignity of office, what to expect? Well, you can count on a series of announcements, including on infrastructure and housing with much emphasis on economic stability and growth – indeed they’ve already started. Much will be made of the need for planning reform, and nobody can argue really; it is going to take some time for the policymakers to realise that, while planning may indeed need some attention, planning reform is no panacea, and is a major distraction from developing radical measures to ramp up supply.
There will be a meeting of the infrastructure council in the next few days and an investment summit in the early autumn. Rachel Reeves will aim to reassure the markets about her approach to the economy, partly to have more headroom for her September Budget. In a pretty unvarnished poke at Liz Truss, there will also be a bill in the King’s Speech to strengthen the legal standing of the Office for Budget Responsibility. Truss may have lost her seat but be under no illusion, she is going to feature in Labour speeches for ever more.
As with any new government, it will be a tumultuous first few weeks. The new prime minister is acutely conscious that even if the next election isn’t due for another five years, voters’ views of governments are often shaped in the first few days. The manifesto gave only few hints of the Starmer political project. The next few months of real decisions, often taken in the heat of real crises, will define the character of the new government and all the most important choices will be made by the new PM himself. This is his victory, his party and his government.
How good is Sir Keir Starmer? Good for more than a good night’s telly? Well, we’re going to find out. A lot depends on whether our industry – among others – is prepared to rally behind him. But if he really just wants to “get stuff done”, then who are we to argue? We are the guys who can help.
Jackie Sadek is chair of the EG public sector forum, working with local authority and other public sector partners, in conjunction with the EG investors forum, to encourage private sector investment into places.
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