It has become something of a cliche to say that Labour’s election strategy is akin to someone slowly carrying a Ming vase across a slippery floor.
With the party still miles ahead in the polls, Keir Starmer’s supporters say there is little to be gained in the party doing or saying anything that could potentially damage its popularity.
At the end of the first full week of campaigning, the vase remains upright but it is beginning to wobble.
After Starmer’s embarrassing U-turn over whether Diane Abbott should be a Labour candidate, serious questions are being asked for the first time about the party’s campaign strategy.
The veteran MP was suspended by the party in April last year she sent to The Observer suggesting that Jewish, Irish and Traveller people are not subject to racism “all their lives”.
It is understood that a behind-the-scenes agreement was reached in which Abbott would return to the party fold and then announce that she was standing down at the election.
However, senior party figures briefed The Times that she was being blocked from running – prompting a furious backlash from Abbott and her supporters.
After 48 hours of confusion, during which time Angela Rayner added her voice to those calling for the veteran left-winger to be allowed to stand, Starmer eventually caved in and said she was “free” to be a Labour candidate.
The Tories, not unreasonably, could barely contain their glee at Labour’s cack-handedness.
“Angela Rayner is pushing Keir Starmer around,” said a spokesperson. “Under pressure, he’s showing he’s a weak leader who’s losing control of the Labour Party.”
A former Labour minister told HuffPost UK: “The campaign started well, with the Tories on the back foot and Labour in control.
“The problem is that that has been seriously diminished. It now looks to voters like they’re both a shambles – and that is unforgivable. They have lost that initial momentum. They had got the Tories on the back foot and now they’ve blown it, which is deeply depressing.”
The target of much of the criticism is Morgan McSweeney, Labour’s national campaign co-ordinator and Starmer’s closest adviser.
“Morgan’s losing the plot – he’s been reading his own headlines to much,” said one shadow cabinet member.
“The whole Diane thing has been so badly handled. I can’t believe we’ve ended up in this mess.”
“The campaign is a mess,” said one Labour source. “Diane didn’t even want to stand.”
Another former Labour frontbencher said: “The problem is those at the top have zero strategic nous and no political instinct.”
Kristian Buus via Getty Images
The Abbott row – seen by many as part of a wider “purge” of the party’s left-wing – has also meant attempts to highlight the party’s plans for the NHS and tackling anti-social behaviour have been completely overshadowed by the controversy.
However, HuffPost UK can reveal that those around Starmer are unrepentant and have no plans to stop ditching candidates deemed not to be of the required standard.
“It’s always been about having competent and talented people,” one senior Starmer ally said. “It will inevitably be true that the party will move away from the hard left towards something more moderate, but the selection stuff is about having better candidates.
“I’m sure there are some rubbish people from the moderate wing of the party who won’t be selected either. It is genuinely about improving the standard of the Parliamentary Labour Party, regardless of the election result.
“The Labour Party will be in a better position after this election than when we picked it up.”
However, Starmer’s critics have been handed plenty of evidence this week to support their belief that the leadership’s approach is ideologically-driven.
Left-wing candidates Lloyd Russell-Moyle and Faiza Shaheen were both unceremoniously dumped following claims about their past behaviour – allegations both firmly deny.
In their place have come moderate candidates and, in the case of Russell-Moyle, a former adviser to Starmer.
Asked if he had been the victim of a “cull” of left-wingers, the former Brighton Kemptown MP said: “Quite clearly, the timing for me is highly suspicious, the appointment of the person who is replacing me is highly suspicious, and it does mean that those are accusations that anyone would end up making.”
But a Starmer ally told HuffPost UK: “If you want to make an omelette you need to break some eggs.
“We’ve always said that post-election, regardless of whether we win or lose, we wanted to have better candidates and a stronger PLP. There’s lots of good people who have gone for various reasons, but I’m really confident that the candidate list is strong.”
Labour were handed a timely boost yesterday when Mark Logan, the outgoing Tory MP for Bolton North East, declared that he was jumping ship to Labour.
“I believe as a politician it’s incumbent upon me to be able to look people in the eyes in Bolton and say that I believe that a Labour government is going to serve you better, your interests better, it’s going to be better for your pockets, it’s better for the economy, it’s going to be better for the UK,” he told the BBC.
But one senior Tory said: “He’s a knob who no one has ever heard of. I couldn’t pick him out of a line-up.”
Labour’s internal issues have done nothing to dent the party’s popularity, if the opinion polls are to be believed.
If anything, Labour’s lead over the Tories may even have grown after the first full week of the election campaign, while Rishi Sunak’s personal ratings continue to tank.
The prime minister does have a chance to claw back some ground on Starmer next Tuesday evening when the first head-to-head debate of the campaign takes place on ITV.
The Labour leader is the man with most to lose on the night, but one party insider insisted he won’t lose any sleep over it.
“People would be surprised at how little time he spends on preparing for this type of thing,” they said.
Nevertheless, experienced Labour figures believe that Starmer’s apparent war on the left has the potential to damage the party even if it doesn’t stop them forming the next government.
“None of this will make a difference to the election result but there is a big list of gripes and problems they are storing up for the future,” said one.
