The results of Britain’s general elections on 4 July may have begun a political revolution that could transform European politics and influence democracies around the world for years. This is remarkable because Britain has been greatly weakened by a series of small political earthquakes since Brexit, its exit from the European Union (EU), on 1 February 2020.
After 14 years in purgatory, Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour party has won a huge majority in the House of Commons, dealing a crippling blow to Rishi Sunak’s 190-year-old Conservative party, which had to crash out of office with the worst electoral result in its illustrious history.
Labour’s stunning victory has triggered a potential revolution that could resonate in other democracies, because political power in Britain has returned to an internationalist, centre-left, social-democrat party that favours economic globalisation and economic equity. It was high time it happened, because Britain was reeling from a crumbling economy, rickety public services, decrepit infrastructure and declining global prestige.
This sea-change happened at a time when almost all democracies are struggling to hold back the rapid rise to political power of hard right populists determined to push forward on militarised nationalist agendas. They are dedicated to penalising immigration and foreign-made products, transactional foreign policies and coercive diplomacy, while asserting intolerant nationalist, religious and cultural identities as bulwarks against other religions and cultural influences.
For example, President Joe Biden is fighting an apparently losing battle against Presidential challenger Donald Trump, who is the standard bearer in America of such hard right positions heading into the November presidential elections.
Even France, the birthplace of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, was not able to stop the power grab of extreme right populists in its July 2024 general elections. Far right populists are already the main opposition in Germany’s parliament and could take over in the 2025 general elections.
Indian companies should look forward to greatly improved investment and business opportunities in Britain with Labour’s arrival in such a strong position of parliamentary power. Starmer has promised that his government will be friendly towards business and global trade. Such a pledge is bold for Labour, because it indicates that his leadership will be from the moderate centre-left instead of the usual socialist policies of past Labour governments. Before Starmer’s rise to Labour leadership in 2019, the party was extreme left. His stolid technocratic temperament could be what Britain needs to get out of its despondent rut after the exhausting Tory years, during which achieving Brexit was the dominant agenda and Prime Ministers were changed four times.
Indians may find partnerships with British companies and the government to be more profitable because they are now free of the EU’s stifling regulatory environment and will be flexible and less high-handed in negotiations. Labour has said sustained economic growth will be its first mission for government and its manifesto focuses on wealth creation. It will be ‘pro-business and pro-worker’ and introduce a new industrial strategy that will not be protectionist. That means Starmer will try to turn Britain into an open economy and favour equitable economic globalisation with its trade partners.
These are tall orders and would lack credibility were they not backed by an overwhelming Labour majority in Parliament, so it will not have problems in pushing laws through the House. This is an important difference from Sunak’s government, which was crippled by hard-right Tories that Sunak did not dare to confront because his own position was too shaky. In appeasing his hard-right, Sunak crashed his entire party to an inglorious defeat. He does not deserve the ignominy of having his name linked forever to this worst-in-history performance for the Conservative party, because he is a meticulous centre-right politician, administrator and policy person. It is creditable that he survived 18 months in a Tory snake pit of hard-right believers, who placed their ideology above good policy and execution. Starmer wants to be the leader who will fix the extensive damage caused to Britain and its foreign relationships by the chaos within the Conservatives especially since 2020. He thinks setting Britain’s economic boat upright again should take 10 years.
He would do well to befriend Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take advantage of India’s phenomenal growth. Starmer’s Labour manifesto pledges to install a ‘new strategic partnership’ with India, including a free trade agreement. Getting such as agreement may take a while because it needs balance, but both sides could benefit greatly from quick progress.