Victory may be in sight for Starmer but the polls can be deceptive - and Labour ... trends now
It's been an undeniably good week for the Labour Party, and a bad one for the Conservatives. So it's no wonder that, after half a generation out of office, there is optimism, perhaps even confidence, among Labour supporters.
Yet this is also a dangerous moment – for them and for the country. The challenges and the terrible constraints now facing a British government of whatever colour are all too real.
Take, for example, climate change, or the collapse of social care. Or the dire housing situation for young people, the disintegrating fabric of society or the desperate state of our national finances.
These are vast problems. They are urgent priorities. And yet there are no agreed solutions to hand, let alone easy ones.
That's why, even with victory seemingly in sight, Labour must be clear that tribal politics won't cut it any longer.
Britain's opposition Labour Party leader Keir Starmer speaks next to Labour's Claire Ward, after Ward was elected as East Midlands Mayor, May 4
Conservative party candidate Susan Hall speaks as Labour's Sadiq Khan is re-elected as the Mayor of London
Lord Blunkett (pictured) was a Labour Cabinet minister for eight years
The task facing the next government – the task facing all of us – is too huge for that. It will take a national effort, not a political campaign, to get us out of the hole we are now in. After more than a decade of division, what we need is healing.
Today the polls appear healthy for my party but looks can be deceptive and I believe that an eventual Labour victory will turn out to be rather less convincing than many seem to think.
While I was naturally pleased that Labour won the Blackpool South by-election from the Conservatives – with nearly 60 per cent of the vote – the shockingly low turnout there and around the country makes Thursday's results an unreliable guide to the future.
Apathy is a threat to our institutions and our democracy.
The disruption of the war in Gaza is a further factor creating disaffection among some core Labour voters with effects that cannot be discounted or swept under the carpet. Nothing is guaranteed.
Sir Keir Starmer has done well to rescue Labour from the disaster of the Corbyn era. But what we need now is a long-term vision of the future which unites men and women of all persuasions – and wins their confidence. With the emphasis on 'long-term' and 'unite'.
We have to plan for tomorrow, whether that's building power plants, upgrading the National Grid or increasing the availability of electric charging points, not to mention reforming the NHS and investing in vocational skills.
That means being honest about the costs involved and the timings, and then investing in the human beings who are key to its success. For too long British politics has been bedevilled by short-term thinking and easy slogans.
But if planning is important, so are its counterparts – cooperation and partnership.
A Labour government must mobilise private sector investment as the public coffers are rebuilt. We must agree a viable plan to make the most of our pension funds and other vast savings to regenerate and grow our economy.
Winning major infrastructure investment means agreeing the way ahead with industry and businesses large and small and, yes, with some of our political opponents.
That is why Keir Starmer and his team reached out to the business community in a way that may have bewildered some Labour stalwarts.
