Who is Keir Starmer, really? | Andrew Marr | The New Statesman

The Labour Party is seen as the government-in-waiting, but what does Keir Starmer actually stand for? Andrew Marr explains why he will make a better prime minister than a party leader.
Subscribe here: / @newstatesman
Keir Starmer is often perceived as a continuation of the Tony Blair era, but they are two very different politicians.
The current Labour leader cares deeply about class and listening to voters, and less so about political theory. But the great conundrum at the heart of the Labour Party is not policy specifics, but personality. How does Keir Starmer escape this?
Read Andrew Marr’s full piece here: www.newstatesman.com/politics...
-
Andrew Marr is Political Editor for the New Statesman, and is one of the UK's most senior political journalists. He spent over 20 years at the BBC where he was Political Editor and hosted the wildly successful Andrew Marr show. He is now based in Westminster where he brings his deep experience of political reporting to his analysis of the most important events in UK politics. He also hosts Tonight with Andrew Marr on LBC Radio.
Watch more videos from Andrew Marr in this playlist: • Andrew Marr
--
The New Statesman brings you unrivalled analysis of of the latest UK and international politics. On our KZbin channel you’ll find insight on the top news and global current affairs stories, as well as insightful interviews with politicians, advisers and leading political thinkers, to help you understand the political and economic forces shaping the world.
With regular contributions from our writers including Political Editor Andrew Marr and Anoosh Chakelian - host of the New Statesman podcast - we’ll help you understand the world of politics and global affairs from Westminster to Washington and beyond.
Subscribe on KZbin: / @newstatesman
Sign up to Morning Call, the daily UK politics newsletter from the New Statesman: morningcall.substack.com
Subscribe to the New Statesman from just £1 per week: www.newstatesman.com/podcasto...

[@lawsharland7278]

One thing that i think a lot of people on the left need to realise is that Starmer moving the to the center was necessary for Labour to be electable. Corbyn was definitely popular among the left. But he also led the party to a landslide defeat and performed worse than Michael Foot. The british public for better or for worse rejects hard left leaders, and thus Starmer's moderation is necessary to defeat the conservatives.

[@nectarinedreams7208]

This is true. Corbyn was far too decent and honest to be a leader. He failed because he didn't stand up for himself and let the British press eat him alive. Maybe in the future we can have leaders who are kind but that doesn't fly in this world right now. Starmer has just the right amount of Tory in him to be electable, just like Blair.

[@archvaldor]

"One thing that i think a lot of people on the left need to realise is that Starmer moving the to the center was necessary for Labour to be electable." Utter drivel. Neil Kinnock (twice), Brown, Milliband all centrists all failures. Somehow after 50 years of the "modernizers" mostly being in control of the party and failing people still come out with this nonsense.

[@MiPointIs]

Sunak tried to ridicule Starmer for being knighted saying it was ‘just because he was the Director of Public Prosecutions’ in actual fact his knighthood was in recognition of the fact that he successfully fought for many countries to remove the death penalty from their legal system, rather a more honourable use of his time and experience than cam be said of the Tory party revellers’

[@tatata1543]

Total bollocks, he got it for being head of the DPP.

[@paulies5407]

He got it for services rendered to the establishment.

[@suesibany-king2298]

If he cared about deaths abroad he wouldn't openly support Zionism and Israel's blood lust in murdering thousands of Palestinians in their own country which Israel illegally occupies and refuses to abide by international laws covering occupation. Starmer is a lawman so upholding law, including international laws, should be paramount to him

[@gordonaliasme1104]

Voting Tory or Labour is changing deckchairs on a sinking ship

[@gilesdunk7416]

For years the British public complained about career politicians and then we get a labour leader who has gotten to the top of another career before going into politics people complain that they don't know what he stands for.

[@gavinreid9184]

I find that he continually surprises me with his policy announcements and his direction seems to be guided more by austerity and Tory policies than values traditionally held by Labour.

[@davidthompson9141]

We know what he stands for...dirty money, more dirty money, power, greed and tyranny. Anyone who has remotely followed his dirty rise to near power and tyrannical weaponisation of anti semitism, COVID etc knows exactly what he's about. Marr knows fine well he's a tyrant but he knew what boris was too and still wanted him in power. When a labour leader cuts ties with unions in a time of extreme hardship for working people, then we know who they represent.

[@SlowhandGreg]

Not coming from the Labour camp he sees ok to me apart from he's gone to far on the Centerism, Corbyn's policies where just elite socialist populism with zero chance of getting a working majority or succeeding if he ever did. At least Starmer is acknowledging where we are not trying to take us back to the 70's. As for traditional Labour values what are they exactly working class voted UKIP Brexit then Boris your stuck with the likes of me now a suburban retired educated soft left an the younger educated vote, move into Corbyn territory and that vote evaporates not to be replaced by the working class. Had an extension built last year the younger lads working on it don't vote and the older workers think Farage is the true Jesus @@gavinreid9184

[@jason_samosa]

People don’t know what he stands for because his principles change based on which election he needs to win.

[@julias-shed]

Every promise he made to become leader he’s reneged on. So how can we believe what he says now?

[@henridobbs2423]

Andrew sold Starmer better than Starmer. So interesting to hear him give his views on Starmer being a better PM than LotO at the end.

[@firefalcon124epic]

Andrew sold nothing here. Absolutely nothing in here appears to be rooted in factual examination beyond the obvious "he's 20pts ahead". This is a puff piece, the same Tories get to shore up their vampiric personalities.

[@thomasmoore1499]

@@firefalcon124epic One unhappy voter, but were you actually listening ?

[@SunakStarmerisacunt]

@@thomasmoore1499 were you

[@firefalcon124epic]

@@thomasmoore1499 I'm listening, all the result of what I hear is: "things can't get better, suck up for this milquetoast, spineless, value-less civil servant dude, and don't you dare ask for better". Nothing here suggests he will actually be a better prime minister than an opposition leader, if that's your point. I say again, it's puff-piece level conjecture. "Wanting to win" isn't a value, everyone who partakes in politics wants to win, this isn't complicated stuff.

[@Boghopper9999]

​@@firefalcon124epicPlease point out a single 'factual' inaccuracy. Or are you just disagreeing with a media commentators 'opinion'

[@user-lk9lp3br3g]

I live in Bavaria, born in Heidelberg Area...(british Grand dad, that sadly died 95 on 14.8.2023, he was always there for me and until to the last, I was there for him..RIP..) I mostly vote conservative, this Time Scholz/Labour...and Keir Starmer is exactly what Marr said and I pray he becomes PM and gets Britain Booming, like Blair did in his first years

[@Hydraargyrum]

Andrew Marr is so much better in this more unrestrained setting than he was with a certain previous employer. This was such a good analysis.

[@AntGeezer]

Who is Keir Starmer? Someone who will crush anyone that gets in the way of his personal ambition….including the electorate..

[@andrewtucker94]

I love the sound of the hard left sniffing, it usually means that Labour are about to be in power again

[@carolthomas8528]

Gosh , what incredible insight. How on earth do you know all this ?

[@beatonthedonis]

I remember an interview Andrew Marr did with Noam Chomsky in which Marr blanched at Chomsky's suggestion that mainstream journalists are only mainstream journalists because they toe a very narrow line - one that bears the illusion of a broad spectrum. And here he now is doing propaganda pieces that would have embarrassed Comical Ali.

[@anonymousanonymous1997]

Couldn’t agree more.

[@andrewtucker94]

You're only saying that because you'd prefer Corbyn's policies.

[@jakeratcliff9926]

I can't really believe what I've just watched. Never before have i disagreed with literally every single thing Andrew has just said. When he said Wes Streeting is "authentic working class" i didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

[@emmaeltringham91]

He's definitely from a poor background but he comes across as that viperous spiv who will knife anyone to climb the ladder.

[@Boghopper9999]

Funny, I mostly agree with everything he said. Before you accuse me of being a secret Tory, I am centre left and for the first time in years I would vote Labour (unfortunately, due to FPTP it would only allow the Tory's to win again in my constituency so I will vote tactically instead)

[@user-zr1ry3gm2i]

I would cry!!!!!

[@d1sciple83]

Wes Streeting is from a working class background in East London but he's the epitome of everything wrong with Westminster. He was the leader of the NUS when they sold out students to bring in massive student loans and is nothing but a career politician with no real world experience.

[@hilaryporter7841]

Its not his fuzzyness, noone cares about that. Its not the class issue, few care about that. Its the mendacity, people really care about that. He is not the same person that put himself up for the Labour party leadership. Explain that.

[@janpetersen7440]

It has always been difficult for me to really understand UK duopoly politics (Labour vs Conservative). I live in a country with many different parties to choose from. It always produces a coalition government of several different parties. And not necessarily a prime minister from the largest party. This means that large parts of the population's various political interests are represented. And does not provide so many sharp ideological divisions in the population. I like that kind of representative democracy. 😉

[@fredatlas4396]

@janpetersen7440 The problem we have in the UK is down to our first past the post voting system which isn't fit for purpose or democratic. That's the reason we have this 2 party system. If we changed to a proper proportional voting system, one that means every vote actually counts, that would sort out our 2 party system and make our country much more democratic. It would make our polititions much more accountable to us the voters, easier to kick them out. We now have the con-servatives in power with a massive majority, despite the fact they only got 14 million votes in the last election in Dec 2019 out of 48 million or more electorate. They only got 44% of the actual votes and yet they have a massive majority now to basically do whatever they want

[@paulembleton1733]

It’s telling that no UK government has ever had more than 50% of the votes cast let alone the eligible voters. And some odd results. In 1945 Labour got 48% of the vote and a comfortable majority with 393 seats. In 1951 Labour got 48.8% of the votes but just 295 seats whilst Tories got 48% and 321 seats and even a majority. In 2015 UKIP got over 12% of the general election vote, but no seats in parliament, not even for their leader Farage. I don’t care for Farage or the Brexit argument, but more than 1 in 10 of voters agreed at that time. The debate might have been very different had they got a fair shout in parliament. I believe them getting no seats only served to harden the Brexit stance amongst supporters, and that the only way was a yes/no referendum even if they knew it wasn’t that simple. Long overdue change needed, the first past the post (which post?) system is damaging democracy.

[@bugsygoo]

This is one of the big structural problems with Britain's politics. You would have far less radical Tory policies if there were more coalitions. The British public are far more progressive than Westminster. In the 2019 election, Labour, Lib Dems, SNP and Greens got just over 50 per cent of the vote. The Tories got 43 per cent, and yet they have a massive majority in parliament that then allowed them to introduce ruinous policies on the country. This jerrymandered voting system and the absurd private school monopoly on power and wealth are destroying Britain.

[@abdurrahmansiddique171]

​@@fredatlas4396in 2019 Jeremy Corbyn got a bigger voter turnout than Tony Blair did in 2005. So yeah, it's a broken system.

[@psycrow6699]

Well, like it or not, it does produce strong governments that can actually get policy through and be held to account. Coalitions are just endless compromise.

[@danchanner7887]

Sir Keir should be given a chance.

[@richardbird4652]

Just came across this excellant analysis. It felt like a description of Atlee. Described as one of our greatest PMs. Atlee's legacy still benefits the whole population , despite efforts to rip it apart.

[@PaulScott-fw1cq]

This is all a bit of a sickening promotion for Starmer, can we have some journalism please? Starmer will probably win, just because the Conservatives have lost it. He promised everything to get where he was and delivered none of it. As he's going to probably get in, no matter what he says and does, let's hope after all his lies and broken promises he can do the job, because if not, this country is in big trouble.

[@thomasmoore1499]

You do need to cheer up a bit, perhaps this is what 13 years of Tory rule will do for you.

[@PaulScott-fw1cq]

For years now (and you can blame futile posts trying to explain the consequences of Brexit to Brexiters) when someone posts a weird dismissive response that doesn't really engage with a point I've made, I like to think that perhaps they are just bots, and not real people with brains at all. Because that really would be depressing. @@thomasmoore1499

[@keithparker1346]

​@@thomasmoore1499no we don't have swallow this bs from Marr

[@2k10clarky]

Broken promises! You know Labour are not the government right?

[@A_kiwis_view]

A kiwi's view. Thanks Andrew for an insightful analysis of the man I've seen portrayed through the class lens of the British commentariat. A pragmatic leader is required to get Britain out of its current mess. Starmer fits the bill.

[@Boghopper9999]

A refreshing take, pretty sick of the 'tall poppy syndrome' with people here who see Starmer as some sort of class traitor, despite his near lifetime of public service and human rights activism

[@robinmcarthur3287]

He's a liar! He has accepted brexit when he knows it's a disaster. He is scared of the brexiters!

[@lestrem11]

Only if he can make his mind up on ANYTHING ( which he can’t).

[@A_kiwis_view]

@@lestrem11 what a nonsense response

[@archvaldor]

"A pragmatic leader is required to get Britain out of its current mess." He's spineless and will keep all the current failed policies.

[@jonsmith5058]

I really dont want a leader who tries to win at any cost whatsoever, especially since it seems to be carving out the soul of the party. The only wayI would accept it is if he were to show how its the only way to ‘game the system’ on FPTP in order to get in the introduce PR but I have zero trust thats his agenda, he just wants power.

[@Jmcinally94]

"He'll do almost anything to win" is less of an endorsement than you think. For the record, its not simply a "hard left" opinion that he's gone back on almost every campaign promise he made in his bid to become Labour leader. Its just a fact. The reason nobody knows who he is is because he'd "willing to do whatever to win". How can you have faith in a man with so few genuine convictions. I dont really want a PM who cares about class, but on an incredibly personal level. I want one who cares on a political level and is going allow that to drive change. I think that people have just again recently started questioning the authenticity of their "working class" politicians out of necessity. We let neo-liberalism run riot for decades now, trusting "posh" politicians to run things and look where their monied interests got us. Ordinary people are suffering and they want someone like them representing them.

[@johnrohde5510]

It's entirely the achievement of the Tory Party. What he hasn't done is convince or tell the truth. To be a principled person who thinks that politics is about lying isn't a principled person.

[@princeofchetarria5375]

Did Jeremy Corbyn get the privilege of such a generous character assessment from Andrew Marr or is it on reserved for the labour right only?

[@eridanoooouuuuus]

To be fair Andrew Marr was a bbc employee at that time.

[@andrewtucker94]

Here are the election-losing cavalry to save the day!

[@nectarinedreams7208]

Election-losing because Corbyn wasn't afforded the red carpet treatment like Starmer.@@andrewtucker94

[@keithparker1346]

What policies Andrew?

[@microwaves25]

I'm clearly not the only one who is dismayed by the watering down of Labours socialiat pledges. Starmer is clearly playing the political game despite how unpalatable that may be to the traditonal Labour voter. But we have to at this current moment back anyone who can send the Tories to electoral oblivion and hope that Starmer realises that only truly transformative politics can get us out of the perma crises we live in today.

[@2k10clarky]

I know its not Labour's fault that were in this mess but you can't promise the world in a cost of living / inflation crises the general public wouldn't buy it and they would be right.

[@jmmypaddy]

Marr has said in other videos that he thinks Starmer needs to not promise anything and be all things to all people, but when he gets into power he has to be radical. This video is Marr trying his best at selling the emptiness of Starmer as being substance, in the hope change happens when he gets elected. I think Marr is onto loser with this perspective, but prey he's right. This country needs a state to give people chances, not divide each other. It needs the state to apply legislative protections, against tax avoiding companies and a poorly regulated financial sector.

[@geyienhk]

Good grief! A party political broadcast on behalf of the Labour Party!

[@K4rmaRules]

If we're hard left then that makes you far far right.

[@robinmcara793]

The problem is the system. Its run for big corporations through our lobbying system. It's never about us the voter. They all suck let's be honest. We are a failing state.

[@neilsmith154]

Starmer lives in the same world that unraveled Truss. It the the reality of the fiscal situation. We have high taxes and high debt. So as he has get closer to power he promises less. He is also tied to the Labour Brexit election debacle so has put distance between any real change to Brexit deal.

[@lestrem11]

What mess? The ONS has just stated that Britain has emerged from the pandemic stronger than France and Germany. Perhaps they need to leave the EU?

[@tatata1543]

I’m still none the wiser as regards the question asked, which he basically ignored.

[@delbroox]

If you click on the play button, you can listen to the video.

[@tatata1543]

@@delbroox Did that, didn’t help. He avoided answering it, he does that a lot which is probably why it passed you by. Either that or your short attention span issues had an effect.

[@delbroox]

@@tatata1543 I guess we have different ideas of what answering a question means. Seems to me he gave a quite multi-faceted answer to "who the guy is", naturally in his own opinion, whether one might like it or not.

[@tatata1543]

@@delbroox “multi-faceted” , is that the same as two faced? I agree, he’s a slippery character, I shudder to think of him in charge. In many ways he reminds me of Johnson which is not a good thing.

[@delbroox]

@@tatata1543 ok now you’re just turning my words the way you like it because you don’t like the guy. 🤷🏻 thanks for confirming I was right.

[@Gregorovitch144]

So Starmer is a fixer? I think most folk agree this country could do with a little fixing. Will he be any good at fixing things as PM? Well, he's fixed the Labour Party good and proper in a ridiculously short space of time. He fixed the CPS too. So he's got form. If Kier Starmer proves to be a good PM he won't be "fuzzy" any more. People will understand who he is from what he does which will touch there lives directly everyday in a way it doesn't today. There will be a big change in the way they see him if he proves to be a good PM.

[@keithparker1346]

How did he fix Labour? I've posted this 3 times now and for some reason keeps being removed

[@Gregorovitch144]

@@keithparker1346 He has changed Labour from little more than a glorified protest movement with zero chance of winning a GE for a generation in 2020 to a party that is 20 pts ahead in the polls that is widely expected to form the next government and is also widely believed to be ready for government. It took Kinnock, Smith and Blair 14 long years to do that after the 1983 debacle. Starmer has done it in three. It is a monumental achievement, notwithstanding he's had a lot of help from the Tories themselves. It strongly suggests that there is a lot more to Kier Starmer than meets the eye on TV. Rachel Reeves did an FT event recently were the host started asking for a show of hands on who thought Labour would win next year. At least 90% of hands went up. He then asked who felt exited about Labour winning. Astonishingly about 60-70% of hands went back up. At an FT conference? I'd say it's odds on the FT will back Labour next year. If they do it'll be all over TV and will probably be worth an extra 10-20 seats by itself. This sort of thing is what I call "fixing" Labour.

[@firefalcon124epic]

He hasn't "fixed" Labour. He has factionalised it and has yet to face the consequences.

[@user-zr1ry3gm2i]

Doesn't like factions!!!!!😳 He and his cronies have created factions within the labour party, which are clear for everyone, including political commentators, to see!!

[@andrewhubbard4044]

VOTE FOR REFORM UK IF YOU WANT CHANGE

[@DissociatedWomenIncorporated]

The difference between Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak is like the difference between red and blue smarties, although the brown substance they’re both full of is sadly not chocolate.

[@Boghopper9999]

And how do you compare his shadow cabinet to the Tory cabinet? Gove, Coffey, Badenoch, Braverman. Is that the cabinet you want to keep in power as that is your choice mate. FPTP effectively forces a 2 party system and you can choose one or the other (and with the current boundaries, not voting or protest voting is as good as voting Tory)

[@DissociatedWomenIncorporated]

@@Boghopper9999 so you’re saying I’m effectively disenfranchised, because I’m not represented by either equally bad, equally right wing party. Labour is being praised by MAGA Republicans for their policy shifts. I don’t see the point in voting red Tories in to replace blue Tories.

[@frankwitte1022]

@@DissociatedWomenIncorporated It is simple: if you don't go to vote for Labour you will be voting in the Tories, even if just by absenting yourself. If you can't handle 'choosing between two evils' then I suggest you grow up before the next election. Sometimes people get just two options and shouldn't waste their vote because of some adolescent whinery about how unfair it is their favourite candidate isn't on the ballot. This applies to all progressives and leftists in the UK who are considering not-voting or splitting the progressive vote in their constituencies, and to all Bernie-bros and progressives in the US who prefer not-voting, or "independent"-voting over Biden. Only a few times in your life are you asked to do the right thing by your country and its most vulnerable citizens, this coming election will be such a time. Don't mess it up.

[@EMidMSO]

​@@DissociatedWomenIncorporatedAgree completely, but I've decided to fight on one front at a time: 1) Tories out 2) Hold Starmer to account

[@DissociatedWomenIncorporated]

@@EMidMSO an admirable goal, I hope the strategy works. To me though, it feels like voting Labour in is just voting off-brand Tories in, which doesn’t achieve the goal of getting the Tories out. Genuine question here - do you think the broken shell of the Labour Party can be repaired and revived after the immense amount of damage Keir and his cronies have inflicted upon it?

[@philgalpin9284]

Starmer knows the pulse of the English electorate. This reflects just what the level of the english is! Shame.

[@andrewblyth954]

You start with 'I know him personally and I like him. Just a down-to-earth, principled guy...'. Christ. Everything that's wrong with modern journalism.

[@ac4486]

You just know that ANDREW MARR asking "Who is Keir Starmer, really", REALLY isn't going to ask any searching questions or reveal the side of starmer that should repulse anyone who sees it

[@copa1856]

Says the man who held his book launch in Number 10 when David Cameron was PM. 🤦🏻‍♀️

[@darkflighter100]

Thanks Andrew, but i need the man himself to make that explicit. Making interpretations about what he has said and done absolves him from having to explain his actions for himself.

[@susancaulton5470]

I congratulate you and firmly believe that he will make a great Leader because he doesn’t fit into someone else’s box…….he has his own…….a perfect quality for leadership!

[@PERRITOCBA]

Andrew Marr knows better than Starmer what he believes in himself!

[@ryanconnor9240]

From someone who has trans friends and family members, an early sign of my support was when he accurately and precisely described the state of gender care in this country.

[@klankorbus7874]

He's now very ant trans though.

[@cl8804]

how is he anti trans? Dxracer @@klankorbus7874

[@emmaeltringham91]

Is that before he threw trans people under the bus by backing the review by the EHRC to include the word 'biological' in front of women's spaces and at a stroke prevent trans people from using them.

[@cl8804]

through and through pasha london school@@emmaeltringham91

[@bwright227]

​@@klankorbus7874don't make stuff up.

[@jakel8627]

Does it matter if the public supports or likes Kier Starmer? Either he leads the country with a strong majority or the country gets held up with a hung parliament. He's a prime minister in waiting and the country can't stop him.

[@ineedmoreflavour1955]

Exactly. The public hated Jeremy Corbyn, yet the left are convinced that he would have been the best PM ever - so why does that same standard not apply to Starmer?

[@machidaman]

Rock and a hard place. Sad that we are in this position and proves there is little hope of change or rejuvenation in england l.

[@SlowhandGreg]

Corbyn was the epitome of elite socialist populism doomed to failure as was right wing populism both promised to take us back to a time when everything was better, at least you got to see how Right wing populism tore the Con party to shreds @@ineedmoreflavour1955

[@jikamos]

@@ineedmoreflavour1955talking of yourself mate

[@mrstephenpariah]

​@@ineedmoreflavour1955Exactly, and Corbyn is around twelve million times the man Starmer is. It's all looking a bit beige and twisted right now.

[@dariuswong9764]

3:14 “theres nobody left from the Callaghan years” there is! Margaret Beckett, ex Foreign Secretary under Tony Blair and ex Parliamentary USoS for Education n Science under Harold Wilson and James Callaghan. However she said she’s not running in the next election

[@Just-Some-Dude-420]

Commander U-turn vs Captain flip-flop in a years time is not exactly something to look forward to.

[@1sostatic]

I have no brand loyalty - I just want someone to RUN the country with exactness, and leave a string of successes behind them. Mr. KS seems to be eminently sensible for the most part. Certainly more electable than Corbyn ever was. I've hated this time through May, Johnson, Truss, and now Sunak. The last 13-14 years under Cons have been a mindbending disaster. I admit that I thought Cameron would be more than the travesty he eventually became. I hope Mr KS, if elected, will make positive differences that benefits voters more than the self serving politicians. Over the past years, all I have seen are politicians draining the voter, by displaying poor morals, generate repeated scandalmongering, and rob the electorate. WE NEED BETTER GUARDS FOR OUR FUTURE SECURITY, and a better political system.

[@Rotstift-nr2cw]

'run the country with exactness'? - this oh so softspoken dull guy is a stalinist who breaks the laws of his own party to purge his opponents - he has no concept of the rule of law, only the pursuit of his own power - how will he treat rule of law once he is in power?

[@jonsmith5058]

Corbyn got more votes that Brown, Blair or Milliband in 2017, he was only 800,000 voted behind the Tories. Stop repeating the lie he was unelectable. That was an attack line that the Labour party repeated because they were annoyed their establishment picks were quashed by the party members. It demonstrates all that is rotten about the party. Put Starmer in that position at the time and he’d do worse. Put Corbyn in now, as he was in 2017 before all the lies were repeated so much, and he’d be winning much harder than Starmer.

[@coldporridge4145]

Andrew Marr shows his true colours as a Labour supporter and this was the man who was political editor of the BBC.

[@TheColossalBlanket]

You must've been under a rock when he blatantly showed he was a Labour supporter all throughout his time at the BBC. Now do all the tories at the BBC who blatantly showed their support for the tories, the people who worked for a tory government ending up at the BBC and vice versa... I'll wait...

[@malcky630]

BBC, nuff said.

[@bigdaz7272]

He is the guy who narrated the Mr. Men cartoons in the 80s.

[@JamieJooESC]

Of course the media will now make it about personality rather than policy. GROW UP!!!!

[@ThatGuyThanus]

They always do

[@emmaeltringham91]

It'll be really difficult for them this time then, as neither leader seems to have one.

[@Nick-kb6jd]

Having seen the damage done by dishonest lieing two faced PMs, it’s amazing to see so many people so excited for another one.

[@user-cc7ct1gd9m]

Absolutely correct!

[@DemonDethchase]

Given that Johnson is gone, I think we have a new contender for biggest liar in the House of Commons. Is there not a pledge Starmer has not broken?

[@handbanana4899]

Yeah, pretty much. Tory? Labour? Is there a meaningful difference for anyone who isn't one of their cronies?

[@abdurrahmansiddique171]

I think the British public are simply just too attracted to corrupt politicians and liars. I guess corruption and lies represent us.

[@microwaves25]

Please. Starmer has a lot he'll have to answer for if and when he's elected but do not put him in the same wagon as the current crop running the country. They are nothing alike.

[@frederickmiles327]

Keir Starmer is one of the last, born 1962, to two working class married parents, educated at a real 11+ grammar school in London and gone up to Oxford in say 1980 for a genuine first in say 1983 by which time Starmer life route was no longer possible or even believable . He will have lived his whole life realising his own truth wasn't even wise to mention. Remember Starmer would have been a new entrant first year primary toddler in 1967 when Crosland made the famous Command order requesting, not requiring urgent replacement of selective grammar schools ( the fact that Crosland did not really believe in the Policy being masked, by the request not require, by his ferocious supporting speech declaring his intent to destroy every f.. grammar in England, if it was the last thing Labour ever did') .!But Shirley Williams did destroy both the Grammar Schools that survived Thatchers more aggressive implementation in Heaths government which allowed escape only by full privatisationn of the Catholic schools, elite Birmingham grammars and those with a largely military parent catchment lije Thatchers old Alma Mata. The punk rock stars of the Pistols, Echo and the Bunnyman, Clash, Joy Division et were in many ways the last exampke of social mobility thru grammar, art school tech school education just as Lennon , McCartney, Jones, Jagger, Richards Townsend, Entwhistle, Daltry and Sandy Shaw whose working class London tech recognised her talent, and with no girls grammar in her area found teachers to teach her the Eton 6 European languages course .

[@bakedbean37]

Thank goodness for the wealth management advert at the end of this video. I was almost lulled into a cosy sense of warmth and cuddliness up to that point. Not.

[@SarcasticDespot]

Hope Sir Starmer bought Marr a drink before this stroke job. Wouldnt want to be seen as ungentlemanly

[@Just-Some-Dude-420]

Labour might as well be called Tories 2.0 at this point

[@sebastianaminoff9703]

This was a complete waste of time, a 10 minute non-answer, you should have just said Keir Starmer is whoever he thinks you want him to be.

[@peterklauza1481]

Politics in the UK has become a mess, can he clean it up?We have a clueless govt atm

[@user-zr1ry3gm2i]

"His own political philosophy. A tory philosophy!!!

[@grahamcook9289]

The government in waiting? Over my dead body!

[@gaptaxi]

Starmer has to get the Brits working again, he has to train British nurses and not poach from 3rd World Countries, all I have seen for years are foreign nurses and teachers, the Tories have killed education in the UK, Labour did the same with Comprehensives, he has to get the kids on a higher level of education, as Tony Blair used to say, Education, Education ,Education! Start at the bottom and just work his way up. The Tories can´t be allowed to steal off the workers for the already rich, that is pure evil.

[@gsb5859]

There’s no work left,

[@Kazekou]

This is historical revisionism. I haven't even overstated my own achievements on a CV as hard as Marr has ridden for Starmer here.

[@bakedbean37]

U-turns and purges aside I'm sure you'll find Andrew's take on Sir Kier's character is perfectly reasonable. He's a most acceptable character don't you know? One of us. Salt of the earth and all that.

[@lewisgray4398]

Very odd how passionately he's promoting him

[@totalvoid6234]

@@lewisgray4398 Marr stands for the crushing of the lower classes and Starmer is an absolute champion of hurting anyone who works for a living.

[@philipgumm9243]

@@totalvoid6234 totalvoid is talking about your cranium I expect.

[@keithparker1346]

@@lewisgray4398 well Marr is a Blairite establishment goon

[@DannieGemz]

Dear Andrew thank you so much for a truly wonderful piece of journalism. I remember back when you where confined on the BBC and your journalism was great even then but always very bias based upon BBC rules, its so great to see you back on the screen this time though with a truly neutral thorough overview of politics in our country, you really did help make my mind up about voting Labour again this time, this sounds like a Labour party I can believe in again so thank you so much for your unbiased perspective.

[@lestrem11]

Starmer is a man who describes his own father as a ‘toolmaker’, when in fact he owned an engineering company.

[@mikescott4008]

For me, the age old question. What are people defining as “working” class. Anyone non management, someone earning minimum wage and so on?

[@johnerichoare7732]

The only chance reform has of getting into power at the next General Election is for Nigel Farage to be its political leader. The voting system needs to change also. John Eric Hoare. British sailor retired.

[@andrewwebb9426]

What a wonderful précis! I hope you’re right about making a better PM. I’m not sure, though, because being a leader in any developed western country now means, above all, handling the media. That now includes social media. The two most obviously successful ones at this were Trump and Johnson, unfortunately. I fear Starmer is too distant from ordinary people to be a successful leader.

[@OpenFPL]

You lost me when you said that Labour were unelectable before Starmer.

[@martinstaller9118]

What a load of rubbish! So many people I know are saying that they can’t vote Labour with Starmer as leader.

[@dbkarman]

Starmer has accepted fore freebies than any other labour leader ever. Starmer has abandoned his original ideals and backstabbed us. Labour will flop just as hard as the tories and well be just as fucked

[@J-SH06]

Jeez Andy, Whst are you being paid?

[@ustinov9119]

Remember the interview you did on "journalism" with Noam Chomsky, Andrew?

[@timcomley5948]

Principled , he made ten pledges and broke nearly all of them

[@stevebell6057]

Nonsense. The times change - and we change with them.

[@jeremymanson1781]

Labour have decided they are in it to win it - whatever it takes. In the upcoming election, Labour are likely going to play as dirty as the Tories. And this is understandably very very upsetting to idealists within the Labour Party.

[@eightiesmusic1984]

@@stevebell6057 What does that mean? Did neoliberalism suddenly become the answer to Britain's problems? It is the wrong medicine which is why the patient is so poorly after being given it for forty three years.

[@gio-oz8gf]

You remind me of a kid who didn't get the bike he wanted off Santa.

[@gio-oz8gf]

@@eightiesmusic1984 The only person talking about neoliberalism is you; no one else even hinted at it. You're having an argument with yourself.

[@neurojitsu]

A very useful insight into the personal history of Starmer. I think we need a far more professional approach to running government, after so many years of chaos: the civil service and councils that really run the country now need a strong vision from a team that understands how to implement complex policy, which experts to trust, and how to lead change during uncertain times. Given his experience of leading the CPS, he will be trusted by civil servants and business leaders alike. Hopefully he will keep ministers in position for at least 2/3 years, so that they have time to learn their briefs and build effective teams.

[@MrSmith_]

At least Keir didn't knock the kids over 😅

[@jonmatthews721]

He's met Rupert Murdoch, so he will most likely be leader. Broken all his leadership pledges. Not much different to the Tories. Guess he's better than the Tories though.

[@fang_xianfu]

Well he filled his cabinet with people who definitely are nothing like the Tories and they will have some influence. A plank of wood would do a better job than Therese Coffey

[@khar12d8]

At the grand old age of 31 i find it hard to care. I was very interested in politics at 18 to about early 20s and now I struggle to believe that it actually makes much of a difference fundamentally who you vote for. I don't say that to be apathetic or cynical. Having the power to change one group for another should reduce corruption in power in theory etc... Fresh eyes and some fresh ideas etc... But fundamentally economic and social change is driven by the global economy, demography and the culmination of past decisions stretching back generations. Britain's ageing society is what will define us for a long time to come. We need mass immigration fiscally but that immigration leads to a cultural backlash and unease. This tension will be with us for a while yet. Even after Brexit mass immigration is the highest it's ever been. Even something as huge as Brexit has been unable to stop that trend, which goes to show how even radical policy decisions can still be crushed by the tides of history.

[@simonperrins5175]

Thanks Andrew, it really does matter!

[@colinmiles1052]

Interesting indeed. Starmer is not bullish and cocky, qualities which we have been expected to believe in during recent years. Time for change I'd say. A bit of common sense won't go amiss.

[@andrewalston1]

For the leader of the Opposition I can’t think of what he’s actually opposed. There’s no evidence that he would be able to do anything if in power

[@corndoggydogdog]

Pretty frustrating to watch this, but interesting to see how hard this Labour government is being uplifted by MSM. Also KS was incredibly factional...

[@bwright227]

Agreed. Sickening how the Mail and Telegraph continually suck up to him.

[@wakkowarner9367]

Owen jones is gonna be pissed at this video

[@AA-hg5fk]

Really not sure how Marr has reached the conclusion that Starmer is trade union -friendly when he banned his own MPs from attending picket lines!

[@PeterRIGBY08]

It’s not a good look for the front bench to go on the picket lines!

[@nectarinedreams7208]

Yeah, you wouldn't want people thinking you're a Labour MP!@@PeterRIGBY08

[@user-zr1ry3gm2i]

That's really interesting, what he says about Starmer always wanting to win. That is Blair all over! Wanting to win for the sake of winning, no matter how to act when having succeeded. That is to say principle is a secondary issue! And as we saw, and are seeing now, principle is of no concern to Blair! The question therefore is. Will Starmer be the same? The signs are not good!!

[@jamesbyrne9312]

Great to hear, I definitely voting Labour

[@djsmithe]

The UK has to throw their class system in the bin.

[@toothlesscrocodile1355]

Starmer is not a showman or a great extrovert. But he really has managed to pull Labour out of the doldrums and treads carefully. He is a pragmatic problem- solver. My own political temperament tends more towards the eloquent Kinnock-Benn-Barbara Castle kind. But that inclination doesn't matter: A united party and a reasonable leader with a sensible bunch of ministers will be good enough to turn Britain's fortunes around, provided people at large give up their cynicism and lend a helping hand. 14 years of one party are more than enough.

[@Just-Some-Dude-420]

and keep in mind everything labour have said in the last few months is very anti young and very pro pensioner. and that's just not a way to fix the country.

[@anonymousanonymous1997]

What rubbish. We are not voting for the bloke. PM without a single meaningful policy platform when everything is crumbling due to the ineptitude & corruption of his class/peers/colleagues etc.🤦🏾🤦🏽‍♂️

[@user-zr1ry3gm2i]

2.51. Complete and utter drivel Andrew!!

[@j_c0rbett365]

very informative video, i like his competitiveness and his willingness to achieve his ambitions whatever it takes, i also believe his ‘fuzzyness’ could be seen as a pro as he represents more of the population instead of specialising to one “class”. However it does concern me that he is being voted in due to the conservatives failure not his success.

[@1258-Eckhart]

The only way you can "be successful" as an opposition leader is by outharanguing the government, and I'm not at all sure that that sort of success impresses me greatly.

[@1258-Eckhart]

A lot of that (doesn't fit in, not a typical politician, focuses on problems to be solved not competitors to be crushed, late into politics, not one for soundbites and/or cheapshots) also goes for Rory Stewart. Starmer should ennoble Stewart - maybe as a Crossbencher - and give him the Foreign Office. That would put the UK back on the map internationally. Stewart would be a second Castlereagh (but hopefully not work himself to death).

[@Yossarian1179]

Keir is OK. Solid.

[@eightiesmusic1984]

Heir to Blair, who else? It is self evident that he ran on the basis of Corbynism without Corbyn but has ditched pledges made. No such thing as the hard left- it is a misnomer. The so called centre ground has moved so far to the right in the last 15, 25 and 40 years, that it is meaningless, except as a stick for the Blairites to demonise anything that does not fit their neoliberal ideology. The Blairite ascendancy is exactly what the reshuffle is, nothing less. Starmer is committed to the maintenance of the status quo- Thatcherism led to Blairism; Starmer is part of the neoliberal consensus since 1979 that needs to be reversed.

[@Jesus420.69]

I’m not a labour supporter. I’ve voted for them before. I will say I think KS is a genuinely good man. He seems to be racing to power without setting out to do so from the get go, like the nature of the average career politician.

[@keithparker1346]

I think you need to do some research about Starmer

[@username5502]

So what do you expect him to do? Try to get the Conservatives re-elected? What is the point of an opposition Party if they don’t attempt to get into power?

[@bwright227]

​@@keithparker1346I have...and I agree. A decent bloke.

[@Boghopper9999]

​@@keithparker1346I did, Former Human Right Lawyer and former head of the Crown Prosecution service, knighted for his work against the death penalty. The alternative is an ex banker who made his money in the aftermath of the 2008 housing crash. Who should I vote for, decisions, decisions!

[@jmolofsson]

​@@Boghopper9999there is *_something_* in the British system that fosters disappointment - great disappointment! Callaghan, Foot, Thatcher, Major, Blair, Brown, Miliband, Corbyn, May, Sunak, Starmer... This _something_ needs to get identified and addressed!

[@EvilUnderTone]

Kier Starmer is everything Boris Johnson is not. That's good enough for me!

[@davidlewis658]

Keir Starmer is everything Clement Atlee was not. And that's really all you need to know.

[@martincheeseman5809]

Come on Kier you can do it ,we need a Labour government to put things after tories wrecking our uk!

[@richmaniow]

Labour did so badly in 2019 because of Brexit and because Labour failed to support Terresa May's Brexit deal that had been carefully negotiated with the EU. Who was it that rejected this deal.. Labours Brexit minister "Keir Starmer" who has never once since explained why, even though this deal had the full support of the EU. But nevermind trivial things such as facts Andrew just keep repeating the same old bull in the hope that we all forget.. you never change do you..

[@outrospection4all]

Problem is the fact that government isn't a one man show. Also, the economy is in such a miserable state, not going to hold my breath.

[@paulmoore120]

Great presentation Andrew.

[@salfordsuperboy4582]

Why don’t we call the ERG Tories, the ‘hard right’?

[@duolingo0552]

We do...

[@user-zr1ry3gm2i]

I wish people would stop using this term hard right, and describe such people accurately and that is as fascists!!! Of which there are many in, or close to governments worldwide now. It is seriously disturbing!!!

[@duolingo0552]

@@user-zr1ry3gm2i I am no fan of the ERG but calling them fascists is clearly inaccurate

[@mrstephenpariah]

Kier doesn't sound posh, he sounds like a deflating balloon. Unless you meant pish? He definitely sounds pish.

[@SunakStarmerisacunt]

he sounds like he has a peg on his nose.

[@michaelarmstrong2251]

As much as I like Andrew Marr I need to say that being working class is not something most people aspire to "escape" from - it's highly offensive to term it that way. Being working class is about culture - people don't "escape" from their culture. You wouldn't say that someone from the Polish or Black communities had "escaped" by becoming a barrister - using it in the context of the working class is symptomatic of a common unconscious bias. P.S. being an engineer isn't a working class job. You should go into the Rolls Royce offices and meet the Oxbridge educated engineers who work out how to keep a film of air running over the blades of a jet engine to stop them melting.

[@lestrem11]

Listening to Blair and Starmer is chalk and cheese.

[@DecMurphy]

Winning elections and changing society for the better are two different goals.

[@merked1980]

Very worrying how this comment only has one like..

[@archie7218]

Not necessarily. Often they go together.

[@DecMurphy]

@@archie7218 Yeah but what I'm saying is one can seek to win power without seeking to make society better, that's what Starmer is doing.