There was, Starmer thinks, a “lack of confidence from 2010 onwards, to defend the last Labour government, and to make the argument that the financial crash wasn’t the fault of the Labour government”.īut there are other failings that are harder for Starmer to highlight, from the party’s ineffectual handling of concerns over immigration to its ill-guided Brexit strategy (in which Starmer, as shadow Brexit secretary, played his part). Nigel Farage puts it bluntly to me: “What you’ve witnessed in slow motion over nearly 20 years is a large section of Labour voters who are absolutely disgusted with the party and are in no rush to go back.” To understand the causes of Labour’s slide other observers are required, including those outside the party. Many Labour voters are repelled by Farage. (“I do not accept any premise from Nigel Farage,” Starmer says when I put this to him.) But in many of his party’s old heartland seats, it is Farage and Boris Johnson who now have appeal, not Labour. We all bear some responsibility.” The party’s broad coalition has shattered – a fracturing that began 20 years ago, on the night Labour celebrated its historic re-election.įor the former foreign secretary David Miliband, Labour’s 20-year decline is “a failure of politics – it wasn’t inevitable or preordained. ![]() In 2001 Labour won 15 more seats than Margaret Thatcher had at her peak in 1983. But Blair’s triumph was hollow: voter turnout had collapsed, falling from 71 to 59 per cent. Blair has got a good thing going for her hopefully it will not take another five years for her to release a record, but if she needs it, let her have it.In victory, New Labour had lost nearly three million votes. It’s developed, with subtle beauty and definite direction. “Candy in the Kitchen” may be the only outlier, featuring a thumping drum machine and dance-inspired lyrics, bordering more on dance than indie.ĭie Young was a long time coming. “Hello Halo” spins with fluttering confusion, featuring a refrain of “I don’t know what I’m saying,” whereas “So That’s It” is a slow and steady piano ballad, the only one of the album. ![]() The record is a cohesive work, yet each song shines with its own peculiarities. Though lacking in dynamics, her voice still rings heartbreakingly clear. Half Leslie Feist, half Dolores O’Riordan of the Cranberries, Blair’s youthful vocals breathe life into her delightfully unfolding melodies. The production work of Keith Ferguson (World Leader Pretend) is impeccable.īlair’s understated-but-earnest voice carries the record. ![]() On Die Young, she presents such vast sound-scapes that it is hard to believe that almost the entire record was recorded in homes and closets in New Orleans. The New Orleans native’s first full-length album, Die Young is a daydream swimming with resonant instrumentation and melodic vocals.īlair (Gimma, when she lived here, before moving to Los Angeles then Brooklyn) sounds like a natural at crafting compelling, catchy pop songs. In Die Young, Blair presents a sonorous indie-pop gem five years in the making.
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