University of Leeds students are divided on Keir Starmer’s performance as Labour leader

Over three years ago, Sir Keir Starmer, the MP for Holborn and St Pancras, was elected as Leader of the Labour Party.

Following the resignation of his predecessor Jeremy Corbyn, Starmer pledged to “bring our party together”, a difficult task for the position he described as “the honour of his life”.

Since his election, the party has undertaken major transformations, with his current cabinet
being the result of three reshuffles in three and a half years.

Just this September, Angela Rayner gained both the role of shadow levelling up secretary and Shadow Deputy Prime Minister, along with 16 other position changes.

The New Statement’s Freddie Hayward described these changes as an “ideological shift” seeing promotions for Blairite Liz Kendell, who lost against Corbyn in the 2015 leadership election, as well as Hilary Benn, Darren Jones and Peter Kyle.

Meanwhile, soft-left Lisa Nandy was moved to Shadow Foreign Office Minister, a position Sky’s Sam Coates calls “unambiguously a demotion”.

Starmer on the other hand described the move as wanting a “strong team on the pitch” for the
next election.

Despite his increasingly centre-middle shadow cabinet, Starmer’s ‘second in command’ Angela Raynor is a loyal trade unionist and is considered on the left of the party.

However, her position is not determined by Starmer himself, as the elected deputy leader, her seat in the shadow cabinet is guaranteed. Starmer, despite some rumours of rift, gave Raynor a promotion in the September reshuffle, placing her even more predominantly as his ‘second in command’.

This may have been an attempt to dissolve running tensions between the more left-leaning members of the party and those in the centre, as Raynor’s trade unionist roots mean many perceive her as one of the most left-leaning top positions in the party.

A University of Leeds alumnus himself, views on Starmer differ greatly between Labour voting students.

Ally Westerman describes him as “not very steadfast in his own opinions, he seems to
say what will get him the most votes rather than what he actually thinks.”

Sharing a similar opinion; another University of Leeds student thinks “he’s trying to please the
public, his speeches can seem tactical.”

One first-year said she’s disappointed in his response to the Israel-Palestine conflict arguing “he’s not doing enough to support those struggling.”

Whereas other young voters are very approving of the new direction Starmer has taken the
party in since Corybn’s resignation.

James Childs, a politics student at the University and Labour Party member believes he “shows tough leadership when needed, such as removing controversial figures who caused reputational damage to the party.”

Beyond his politics, some labour supporters in the university take issue with his leadership skills, describing him as “not charismatic enough to run the party” and “a sensationalist without conviction.”

However, with Labour leading the polls by 44% in the most recent Ipsos’ UK opinion polls, it
appears that although he has garnered a mixed response, Starmer is taking the party in a electorally
successful direction.