A Strategic Left? Starmerism, Pluralism and the Soft Left
Journal article
Thompson, Paul, Pitts, Frederick Harry and Ingold, Joanne. (2021). A Strategic Left? Starmerism, Pluralism and the Soft Left. Political Quarterly. 92(1), pp. 32-39. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-923X.12940
Authors | Thompson, Paul, Pitts, Frederick Harry and Ingold, Joanne |
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Abstract | This article places the Labour Party’s present post-Corbyn renewal in the context of previous periods of renewal in the party’s recent history, associating with the new leadership of Keir Starmer a potential to rediscover the strategic project of the pluralist soft left as an alternative to the programmatic character of the hard left. After assessing the Corbynist hegemony established in the Labour Party between 2015 and 2019, it considers the current absence of any clearly defined set of principles or values underpinning ‘Starmerism’. It then looks back to the Kinnockite ascendency in the 1980s, and the Blairite ascendency in the 1990s, as possible templates for how the party reassesses its positioning with reference to changing electoral, social and economic circumstances. A critique of Corbynism’s left populism culminates in a consideration of the possible grounds for a new pluralist agenda attuned to the policy and electoral challenges Labour faces today. |
Keywords | Labour Party; British politics; the left; Keir Starmer; pluralism; populism |
Year | 01 Jan 2021 |
Journal | Political Quarterly |
Journal citation | 92 (1), pp. 32-39 |
Publisher | John Wiley and Sons Ltd (UK) |
ISSN | 0032-3179 |
Digital Object Identifier (DOI) | https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-923X.12940 |
Web address (URL) | https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1467-923X.12940 |
Open access | Published as ‘gold’ (paid) open access |
Research or scholarly | Research |
Page range | 32-39 |
Publisher's version | License File Access Level Open |
Output status | Published |
Publication dates | |
Online | 30 Mar 2021 |
Publication process dates | |
Accepted | 30 Nov 2020 |
Deposited | 15 Jan 2024 |
Additional information | © 2020 The Authors. The Political Quarterly published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Political Quarterly Publishing Co (PQPC). |
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made. | |
Place of publication | United Kingdom |
https://acuresearchbank.acu.edu.au/item/9010w/a-strategic-left-starmerism-pluralism-and-the-soft-left
Download files
Publisher's version
OA_Ingold_2021_A_Strategic_Left_Starmerism_Pluralism_and.pdf | |
License: CC BY-ND 4.0 | |
File access level: Open |
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