Britain | Bagehot

Keir Starmer, Reform UK and Britain’s populist paradox

A country ripe for the radical right is on course to elect a centrist who wants a quieter politics

Illustration of Sir Keir Starmer meditating
Image: Nate Kitch

OPPOSITION leaders usually dream of entering Downing Street to the roars and bellows of a triumphant crowd. According to Sir Keir Starmer, the arrival of a new Labour government after the next general election will sound more like the start of a yoga class. There will be “a collective breathing out,” he said in a speech on January 4th. “A burden lifted. And then, the space for a more hopeful look forward.” Fourteen years of Conservative government will end not with a bang but an ommmmm.

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This article appeared in the Britain section of the print edition under the headline “Britain’s populist paradox”

From the January 13th 2024 edition

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