The Labour Government – Six Days in

Prime Minister (this will take some getting used to) Sir Keir Starmer has followed up on his promise to hit the ground running. His cabinet was sworn in last Friday, and they got down to work without delay. What a relief it is to see the adults finally back in charge of No 10, after the chaos and carnage served up by the Brexit Boy – David Cameron, Ms Windrush – Theresa May, the Prime MInister of Untruths – Boris Johnson, the Grim Reaper – Liz Truss, and the hapless Rishi Sunak!

As many commentators have agreed, Starmer seems much more at home and at ease as Prime Minister, than he did as leader of the opposition. He’s not the most charismatic of men, but he carries a serene air of calm authority. This is EXACTLY what the country, Europe and the rest of the world needed to see, after fourteen years of calamitous, hostile Tory rule. Gone was the fanfare of 1997 which heralded Tony Blair, to be replaced by the low key, straight down to business, revitalised Labour Party under Starmer.

Starmer isn’t messing around. His first acts were to meet the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards Daniel Greenberg, who’d been mostly sidelined and ignored by successive Tory Prime Ministers. Sir Keir also appointed industry experts James Timpson as Prisons Minister, Sir Patrick Vallance as Chief Scientific Adviser and Richard Hermer as Attorney General. Starmer’s allies believe that appointments to a “Government Of All The Talents”, or “GOATS”, will demonstrate that the Prime Minister intends to lead in a multi-partisan, non-ideological way.



On Sunday, Sir Keir toured the country to meet the leaders of the nations that make up the United Kingdom, and on Tuesday he met England’s Metro and Regional Mayors, in another sign that he intends to follow up on his promise to devolve powers from Westminster to the regions, and to partner with all leaders and stakeholders to bring about economic stability and future prosperity. Wes Streeting held positive meetings with the Junior NHS Doctors, and whilst there’s a long way to go, the noises coming out of the meeting were very encouraging.

The stock market reacted postively to the changing of the guard at Downing Street, and shares have continued to gain strength since. There’s no Liz Truss financial market turmoil nonsense with Labour! We know there’s a long way to go, a lot of work to do and many people to convince, but there’s a global sense that the UK is FINALLY in a safe pair of hands. Whalley Range Labour know the hard work lies before us, but Labour are rising to the challenge from a Ward, to a Constituency, to a Parliamentary Labour Party level on all fronts.

We know the narrative being spun is that the electorate voted against the CONservatives, rather than for Labour, but the reality is the Tories suffered a crushing defeat, with Labour scoring a resounding victory. It’s incumbent upon us to deliver on our promises, and so far Sir Keir Starmer has shown he has every intention to rise to the challenge and meet the people’s expectations. Onwards and upwards… We can do this!