Step forward, whoever you are...

​Everybody has had their say about the Gorton and Denton by-election result by now, so it must be my turn. Suffice to say it’s hard to disagree with much of the left-wing analysis of Labour’s slaughter. As a former party worker one thing that made me cringe was Labour putting out false ’bar chart’ leaflets which claimed that only Labour could beat Reform, when actually the Greens were on course to do that. Labour had even set up a false website promoting tactical voting to support its case. Another form of astro-turfing. But if the only positive reason to vote Labour, after a year and a half in government, is to appeal to tactical voting then it tells the electorate all they need to know. An appeal to tactical voting is an appeal to a voter’s freedom from old constraints. Starmer’s response to this defeat is typically dead-handed. Apparently the result was all George Galloway’s fault for endorsing the Green Party, that being the pro-Gaza choice in this constituency with a large Muslim population. Starmer has given up on the Muslim vote which will not disappoint some people.
 
After this result, who now (in the interim) will fill Starmer’s head with soothing platitudes? He’s still on track to be turned out after May’s local elections. I can only imagine the turmoil in the Parliamentary Labour Party. The rightwing got what they wanted and it turned out, to coin a phrase, to be a crock of shit. It has to be said though that this is a moment when the left could overplay its hand. The failure of the current leadership is not in itself a pointer to a convincing new direction. That direction needs to spelt out now before the inevitable crash happens. Who will do it?