Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Josh Self

Politics.co.uk @politics.co.uk · 2d

“Obama’s London speech was a welcome reminder of politics’ oldest truth – people need stories. Starmer has one, of patriotic renewal after national decline, about fairness after years of drift”, writes @plmr.co.uk CEO @kevincraig.co.uk
www.politics.co.uk/comment/2025...

Obama in London: Have Starmer and Labour already shown they were listening? - Politics.co.uk

They say never meet your heroes, but I have to disagree. Last week in London I met president Barack Obama. He radiated charisma, charm and patience to all the many people he encountered. I especially ...

www.politics.co.uk

1 10

Josh Self @josh.politics.co.uk · 2d

“Starmer’s story about Britain’s moral character, and threats to it, should not relegate concerns about its material condition.”
www.politics.co.uk/week-in-revi...

Week-in-Review: The calling of Keir Starmer - Politics.co.uk

“Now, the Tories – do you remember them?” Keir Starmer had spoken for a full 50 minutes before acknowledging the existence of Labour’s historic rival. The line was met with laughter – a fleeting momen...

www.politics.co.uk

1 2 5

Josh Self @josh.politics.co.uk · 2d

“The lack of a narrative has informed the brittle quality of Starmer’s premiership.”
www.politics.co.uk/week-in-revi...

Week-in-Review: The calling of Keir Starmer - Politics.co.uk

“Now, the Tories – do you remember them?” Keir Starmer had spoken for a full 50 minutes before acknowledging the existence of Labour’s historic rival. The line was met with laughter – a fleeting momen...

www.politics.co.uk

2 3

Josh Self @josh.politics.co.uk · 2d

“Speaking plainly matters in politics. 10 pledges, six milestones, six first steps, five missions, three foundations and two phases are no substitute for singular purpose.”
www.politics.co.uk/week-in-revi...

Week-in-Review: The calling of Keir Starmer - Politics.co.uk

“Now, the Tories – do you remember them?” Keir Starmer had spoken for a full 50 minutes before acknowledging the existence of Labour’s historic rival. The line was met with laughter – a fleeting momen...

www.politics.co.uk

1 1 4

Josh Self @josh.politics.co.uk · 2d

“Political narratives matter, especially in a fractured and highly competitive political landscape, because they dictate the battles a party picks.

“Managed conflicts are a means by which parties project their values to voters.”
www.politics.co.uk/week-in-revi...

Week-in-Review: The calling of Keir Starmer - Politics.co.uk

“Now, the Tories – do you remember them?” Keir Starmer had spoken for a full 50 minutes before acknowledging the existence of Labour’s historic rival. The line was met with laughter – a fleeting momen...

www.politics.co.uk

1 3 9

Josh Self @josh.politics.co.uk · 2d

“Starmer positioned Labour as Reform’s antithesis and antidote. He defined the nature of the populist threat, and presented a theory to explain its moral failings. In other words: Starmer told a story.”
www.politics.co.uk/week-in-revi...

Week-in-Review: The calling of Keir Starmer - Politics.co.uk

“Now, the Tories – do you remember them?” Keir Starmer had spoken for a full 50 minutes before acknowledging the existence of Labour’s historic rival. The line was met with laughter – a fleeting momen...

www.politics.co.uk

5 2 12

Josh Self @josh.politics.co.uk · 3d

“Starmer’s conference address was an analysis of the political landscape, its recent redevelopment, its faultlines – and a statement of where Labour under his leadership would stand within it.”
www.politics.co.uk/week-in-revi...

Week-in-Review: The calling of Keir Starmer - Politics.co.uk

“Now, the Tories – do you remember them?” Keir Starmer had spoken for a full 50 minutes before acknowledging the existence of Labour’s historic rival. The line was met with laughter – a fleeting momen...

www.politics.co.uk

1 1 5

Josh Self @josh.politics.co.uk · 4d

The calling of Keir Starmer

‘Pledges’, ‘milestones’, ‘first steps’, ‘missions’, ‘foundations’ and ‘phases’ are no substitute for singular purpose. Starmer’s conference speech was a reminder of the power of narrative

Latest long-read for @politics.co.uk 👇
www.politics.co.uk/week-in-revi...

Week-in-Review: The calling of Keir Starmer - Politics.co.uk

“Now, the Tories – do you remember them?” Keir Starmer had spoken for a full 50 minutes before acknowledging the existence of Labour’s historic rival. The line was met with laughter – a fleeting momen...

www.politics.co.uk

2 7 21

Reposted by Josh Self

Josh Self @josh.politics.co.uk · 7d

On Starmer's popular front strategy – the opportunities and risks (from my newsletter: www.politics.co.uk/subscribe/)

The rhetoric signals an emerging strategy: Starmer is seeking to cast himself as the leader of a progressive resistance to the rising tide of populist grievance.

The strategy is defined by its objective: to ensure progressives who fear the prospect of a prime minister Farage flock to Labour in the coming months and years. On top of this, it seeks to stigmatise Reform – thus unnerving the party’s unsettled political coalition and preventing the further diminution of Labour’s traditional support base.

The strategy defines Starmer’s tactics. It helps explain, for instance, the more aggressive stances Labour have adopted this conference: notably, the condemnation of Reform policy as ‘racist’ and even suggesting that Farage, the arbiter of party sentiment and policy, is too. Wes Streeting all but labelled Farage ‘racist’ on his broadcast round this morning.

There are political opportunities with this strategy: it isn’t an unreasonable assumption that a progressive bloc could form as a consequence of its negative view of Farage and Reform.

There is precedent too: Joe Biden beat Donald Trump by appealing to the “soul” of the US nation in the 2020 presidential election — a message Starmer will directly evoke today. French president Emmanuel Macron has bested Marine Le Pen twice on these terms. It isn’t altogether distinct from the approach adopted by Canadian prime minister Mark Carney against his country’s Trump-sympathising Conservatives earlier this year.

But there are risks. Plenty of them. Can Starmer authentically style himself as the leader of a British popular front? Will progressives really rally to Labour’s cause when arguably better ideological fits, in the form of Zack Polanski’s Greens or the Corbyn-Sultana project, exist? Meanwhile, will stigmatising Farage catch his voters in the crossfire? Can Starmer effectively differentiate his target audience, the Reform-curious electorate, from the Reform leadership? Farage will try his utmost to muddy these waters

3 7

Josh Self @josh.politics.co.uk · 7d

Starmer: “The Tories, do you remember them conference?” The Conservative Party gets its first mention

2 13

Reposted by Josh Self

Josh Self @josh.politics.co.uk · 9d

Expect a 'no time for novices'-esque message from Starmer tomorrow. That was Brown's retort to an upstart David Cameron, which had the happy consequence of catching David Miliband in the crossfire

PM probably won't go for inexperience (not a big enough distinction between him, Burnham and Farage)…

4 2 7

Josh Self @josh.politics.co.uk · 7d

Already seen quite a lot of this so far

Josh Self @josh.politics.co.uk · 9d

Expect a 'no time for novices'-esque message from Starmer tomorrow. That was Brown's retort to an upstart David Cameron, which had the happy consequence of catching David Miliband in the crossfire

PM probably won't go for inexperience (not a big enough distinction between him, Burnham and Farage)…

1 3

Josh Self @josh.politics.co.uk · 7d

Bridget Phillipson is the first cabinet minister to receive a shoutout in Starmer’s conference speech. Definitely not the No 10 candidate…

2 6

Josh Self @josh.politics.co.uk · 7d

On Starmer's popular front strategy – the opportunities and risks (from my newsletter: www.politics.co.uk/subscribe/)

3 7

Josh Self @josh.politics.co.uk · 8d

@richardburgon.bsky.social tells @moreincommonuk.bsky.social fringe it’s “politically inevitable” that Keir Starmer “will no longer be prime minister” if the polls hold up to and into the May 2026 Holyrood, Senedd and local elections

2 1 5

Josh Self @josh.politics.co.uk · 8d

Blue Labour MP Jonathan Hinder: “We're becoming portrayed as the… defenders of a failed status quo on economics as much as anything.

“So I really think that actually showing people that we can take radical action is really, really important… I don't think we've been radical enough.”

3 1 7

Josh Self @josh.politics.co.uk · 8d

Anneliese Dodds @moreincommonuk.bsky.social fringe: “Ultimately we have to be better at telling a story about what we're doing…

“But the story's got to be an authentic one and this is where I think actually picking the right fights is important…”

2 2 15

Josh Self @josh.politics.co.uk · 8d

From deputy prime minister David Lammy’s conference speech:

5 6 24

Josh Self @josh.politics.co.uk · 8d

The 'King of the North' holds court

On Burnham's surreal appearance at the electoral reform conference fringe event yesterday. To receive this newsletter: www.politics.co.uk/subscribe/

3 1 6

Josh Self @josh.politics.co.uk · 9d

We'll get, I imagine, a comment on public spending and 'undeliverable promises' that casts a net over both Farage and Burnham

3

Josh Self @josh.politics.co.uk · 9d

Expect a 'no time for novices'-esque message from Starmer tomorrow. That was Brown's retort to an upstart David Cameron, which had the happy consequence of catching David Miliband in the crossfire

PM probably won't go for inexperience (not a big enough distinction between him, Burnham and Farage)…

4 2 7

Josh Self @josh.politics.co.uk · 9d

Treasury minister Torsten Bell at Labour conference:

“What Britain needs to tackle Farage is a vision, and the vision they need is not a fat bloke in a wetsuit, which is what the Lib Dems have got to offer Britain in the 21st century.”
www.politics.co.uk/news/2025/09...

Labour labelled ‘nasty party’ after minister calls Ed Davey ‘fat bloke in wetsuit’ - Politics.co.uk

A senior minister has referred to the Liberal Democrat leader, Ed Davey, as a “fat bloke in a wetsuit”. Torsten Bell, who serves jointly as a pensions and Treasury minister, delivered the remarks whil...

www.politics.co.uk

21 8 15

Reposted by Josh Self

Politics.co.uk @politics.co.uk · 9d

“Today dissent is pathologised, selections are stitched up, members treated as irritants. Labour’s pluralism, once its superpower, has been replaced by a culture of control”, writes @labourlewis.bsky.social

🗣️ Robin Cook showed us politics at its most serious. Labour has lost that balance

Robin Cook showed us politics at its most serious. Labour has lost that balance

Delivering the Robin Cook memorial lecture was one of the greatest privileges of my time in Parliament. But it wasn’t just a privilege – it was a burden too. The name Robin Cook still carries a weight...

www.politics.co.uk

1 12 24

Reposted by Josh Self

Politics.co.uk @politics.co.uk · 9d

🚨 NEW: Back electoral reform to embed ‘progressive majority’ and thwart Farage, Starmer urged

Without electoral reform, the country could face a “horrendous scenario” leading to the “extinction of the United Kingdom”, @paulsweeney.bsky.social has warned

Story ⤵️
www.politics.co.uk/news/2025/09...

Back electoral reform to embed ‘progressive majority’ and thwart Farage, Starmer urged - Politics.co.uk

Keir Starmer has been urged to throw his support behind some form of proportional representation (PR) in order to embed Britain’s “progressive majority”. Paul Sweeney, member of the Scottish parliamen...

www.politics.co.uk

1 4 16

Josh Self @josh.politics.co.uk · 9d

Quite!

3