Skip to main content
Labour’s journey to ‘private-sector government’
Four years on from Starmer launching his Labour leadership campaign, COLL McCAIL takes stock of where the party is now and what the future might hold for mass politics
Keir Starmer

DURING a fringe event at last year’s Labour conference, Jim Murphy offered his insight into how Keir Starmer would govern. 

“I think they’ll be the first truly private-sector Labour government,” said the former Scottish Labour leader, admitting Labour intended to govern from the centre. 

His reflections are not ill-informed. For a politician in search of power, Starmer has kept Murphy — who oversaw the near complete wipeout of Scottish Labour at the 2015 general election — remarkably close. 

Liberation webinar, 30 November2024, 6pm (UK)
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
More from this author
Scottish Greens co-leader Lorna Slater addresses members, Ma
Features / 30 October 2024
30 October 2024
COLL MCCAIL reveals how party members rebelled against the current leadership’s attempts to block democratic debate on opposing SNP budget cuts at their Greenock conference
Flames and smoke rise from an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh,
Voices of Scotland / 8 October 2024
8 October 2024
The British government actively supports Israel’s escalating violence across the Middle East through arms sales, military assistance, and diplomatic cover, writes COLL McCAIL
Generation Rent
Features / 17 September 2024
17 September 2024
The independence referendum’s youthful energy has dissipated, leaving Holyrood disconnected from voters as the constitutional question fades and Labour gains ground from a stagnant SNP, writes COLL MCCAIL
11pylons
Features / 2 July 2024
2 July 2024
This new plan may be one of Starmer’s avowed priorities in government, but he and Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar have given conflicting accounts of how it will actually work. COLL McCAIL reports