Election Special: Is it change or die for Labour?
5/8/202651 min
The morning after elections, political parties send their leaders out to areas where they outperformed expectations to try and sell a narrative about their results, even on the bruising nights.
Such was the scale of Labour's defeat that for much of the night, it wasn't clear whether there was anywhere they could send Starmer. Eventually, he headed to Ealing where Labour kept control of the council. In West London, Starmer insisted he isn't "going to walk away". He acknowledged that "voters have sent a message about the pace of change". But isn't that message that they would like a Reform government? Isn't it at the very least that they do not want him to remain in Downing Street?
Where does Labour go from here - and is Nigel Farage now measuring the curtains in 10 Downing Street?
Later, Luke Tryl on the complete collapse of the two party system.
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Transcript preview
First 90 secondsNick Ferrari· Soundbite0:00
[upbeat jingle] This is a Global Player original podcast.
Emily Maitlis· Host0:05
It does strike me that this wasn't an election in the traditional sense of the word. It was more of an arson attack.
Lewis Goodall· Host0:12
Keir Starmer, for whatever reason, is despised by the public of this country, by much of the population. He is despised.
Jon Sopel· Host0:18
And that is a really terrible place for a sitting prime minister to be.
Lewis Goodall· Host0:22
Farage has been around for a long time. He's had lots of different political outfits, lots of different political incarnations.
Emily Maitlis· Host0:27
We are now a country that believes it's better the devil you don't know.
Jon Sopel· Host0:31
He is well and truly fucked.
Keir Starmer· Soundbite0:32
Because the results are tough. They are very tough, and there is no sugarcoating this. We have lost brilliant Labour representatives across the country. These are people who put so much into their communities, so much into our party and our movement, and that hurts, and it should hurt, and I take responsibility. When voters send a message like this, we must reflect, and we must respond.
Emily Maitlis· Host1:11
What does that mean to reflect and respond? Starmer is pretty brutal about the state of Labour after last night, but has his own position, weirdly, just become firmer?
Jon Sopel· Host1:27
And taking responsibility is one thing,