A Loveless Landslide

Labour have won a landslide on a smaller percentage of the vote than they won under Jeremy Corbyn. On 35% of the vote they have been swept to power on a promise to do nothing at all. Such is the nature of British politics that today feels both momentous and completely banal. The joy of seeing the Conservatives annihilated is tempered by the rhetoric from Labour.

This wasn’t a Labour win, it was a Tory collapse, and when that sinks in the reality of a Starmer government will be seen for what it is.

The election was a disaster for the SNP who are reduced to just 9 seats. It was not a ‘bad night’ it was and is a catastrophic defeat seeing the departure of Kirsten Oswald, Deidre Brock, Tommy Sheppard, Alison Thewliss and high-profile MP Joanna Cherry who took no time to lay the blame at Nicola Sturgeon’s door. This was not an election lost by the SNP by a bad campaign, by a confused pitch or by a strange manifesto, it is the culmination of years of confusion, lack of direction, loss of strategy and a complete failure of leadership and ambition. It is the culmination of an inability to resolve contradictory policies and take part in any form of self-honesty about where we are and why. The twin drivers of Holyrood policy failure and a complete confusion about what the Westminster cohort were for has led to this debacle. The party is now short of funds and will likely ‘stagger on’ with Continuity John towards the 2026 election. But without an honest appraisal and some major changes they will suffer further decline.

In a gleeful editorial for the Guardian Severin Carrell writes: “The general election result is a catastrophe for John Swinney and the Scottish National party, which has dominated Scottish politics for a decade.”

“A decade on from the independence referendum, the SNP has been swept aside by a resurgent Labour across central and western Scotland – to a far greater degree than any opinion poll predicted.”

“On the eve of the election, Swinney had insisted the race in Scotland was too close to call. Unlike Labour’s certain victory across England, he said, the SNP was in a nip and tuck race with Labour in Scotland.”

“In the event, the SNP has been humiliated, losing three-quarters of its Westminster seats, down by at least 38. Many of its voters stayed at home to register discontent at the party’s failure to deliver a second independence referendum or their disillusionment with the series of scandals hitting it at Holyrood, its policy failures and its divisions over gender recognition.”

Carrell joins a throng of liberal commentators who will be overjoyed by these events. I’m not sure about his take: “SNP’s humiliation in Scotland shows independence is no longer a priority”. It may be that the fortunes of the SNP and the cause of independence are no longer tied together, and this may not be a bad thing. It may be that people have realised that the party and the cause are not inter-changeable, that, if anything, the SNP are at present unable to deliver.

In his first speech as PM Keir Starmer has promised ‘stability and moderation’. This is a nothing burger of a victory based on revulsion for the Tories. Having promised nothing at all Labour have a very low bar to deliver. But a handful of independents (including Corbyn) point to enduring problems for the incoming government. Complicity with Israeli genocidal activities will not go away, nor will constitutional intransigence.

After fourteen years of a Tory hellscape people are crying out for real change and the problems of grotesque social inequality are unlikely to be resolved by Labour’s promises of ‘stability and moderation’. Having stolen the Conservatives economic policies and hollowed out the party of dissent and intent, Starmer now needs to move from placating the red tops to a meaningful programme of government. It remains to be seen what they can deliver other than Not Being the Tories.

Scottish politics is now blown apart by these results and the real left and the independence movement will need a period of soul-searching and honest appraisal. As the BBC’s Philip Sim notes, “Alba managed a total of 11,784 votes across the 19 constituencies they contested – losing their deposit in all 19. Neale Hanvey was best at 2.8% in Cowdenbeath & Kirkcaldy, Kenny MacAskill 1.5% in Alloa & Grangemouth, George Kerevan 1.2% in Lothian East, Corri Wilson 1.2% in Ayr.” These are not the results of a serious party, and if the SNP needs to offer something beyond the same old tactics and the same old faces, so too do Alba. Both are likely to soldier on regardless.

The electorate have chosen a party that has promised nothing, let’s see how that works for a country on its knees after fourteen years of disastrous misrule. People deserve better.