Tracking right and backing a divisive war, Keir Starmer’s party resembles the Labour of 2005 – the beginning of the end of its last government
When an opposition party hasn’t won a general election for 18 years, you might expect its last success to be cited as a model for how that party could win again. Societies and suitable electoral strategies change over time, of course, but parties that don’t win very often have a limited choice of inspirational examples.
Labour is such a party. And in some ways its 2005 victory still looks an impressive achievement. Labour’s third consecutive win – the only time it has managed that – was also the last time any party took a majority of seats in England, Scotland and Wales alike. Unlike all the Tory regimes since, Tony Blair and Gordon Brown’s administrations between 2005 and 2010 could claim to be nationally representative governments.
Andy Beckett is a Guardian columnist
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