"It Happened Because They Saw That Labour Elevated Identity Over Class, and Technocracy Over Democracy"

"That isn't to say Labour must suddenly eschew support from the well-heeled progressives whom it has done so much to court over recent years. On the contrary, Labour was, at its most successful, always a coalition between the working class and middle class, between Hartlepool and Hampstead. But the former part of that coalition found itself increasingly elbowed out as the latter came to dominate. The pendulum must now swing decisively the other way."

Paul Embery at Spiked gives advice to the Labour Party for the post-Boris Johnson era.

"Bridge the Divide Between the Young, Urban Left and the Traditional Democratic Base by Focusing on Work"

"True, it has been easier for Biden to connect with working people than for Starmer: the president's roots, his story and his manner lend him an authenticity not easily replicated. And he was up against a genuine monster in Donald Trump. Johnson is a tougher opponent, governing as a social democrat in a blue rosette, willing to tax and spend big–'a Brexity Hezza,' he called himself–and not in denial about Covid. But if Starmer were to adopt Bidenomics on jobs, 'the Tories would never be able to go there,' says Cruddas: ultimately their Thatcherite creed would hold them back. Labour would have that fertile ground all to itself."

Following another election defeat for the Labour Party, Jonathan Freedland at The Guardian recommends that the Party follows the model of Joe Biden.

"Believes He Has Been Vindicated When the Record Shows He Has Been Humiliated"

"After Labour's historic defeat in last December's general election, he now claims the moral victory. The coronavirus outbreak and the British government’s response to it—which has included wage guarantees for furloughed workers and quasi-renationalization of the railways—has vindicated his brand of far-left politics, he told the BBC. 'I didn't think that it would take only three months for me to be proved absolutely right,' he said with his usual modesty and grace. Meanwhile, the Conservative Party holds a 26-point lead in public polling."

Liam Hoare at Slate marks the end of Jeremy Corbyn as Labour Party leader.

And Owen Jones in The Guardian welcomes the new leader, Keir Starmer.

"Beliefs Long Worshipped in the Churches of Conservatism Are Being Sacrificed in the Fierce Urgency of the Now"

"Fiscal disciplinarians on the right are largely swallowing it on the grounds that there is no alternative. Libertarians of the state-shrinking and welfare-loathing disposition are reconciling themselves to measures that they'd normally hate with the thought that they are temporary impositions that will be lifted one day. Once the virus is brought under control, either by the production of a vaccine or other measures, then politics can go back to business as usual.
"I rather doubt that."

Andrew Rawnsley at The Guardian explores the political and economic impact of coronavirus in Britain and the United States.

"The Mainstream Left Is in Serious Trouble in the West"

"The ethnic change that is transforming western societies makes cultural issues more relevant, benefiting the Right while harming a Left that finds itself hemmed in by progressive norms, unable to adapt to new electoral realities."

Eric Kaufmann at Law & Liberty explains "Why the Left Is Losing."

"Somewhere in the Heavens, the Gods Are Laughing"

"Boris Johnson has come to power at a moment of high uncertainty. Progressive theories that claimed to divine the future have proved as trustworthy as Roman auguries. Gramsci's belief that the working class makes history has turned out to be right, at least in Britain, but not in the way he and his disciples imagined."

John Gray at the New Statesman explains "Why the left keeps losing."

"In Trying to Keep Both Its Remain and Leave Voters Happy, It Has Pleased Almost No One"

"This had been less of an election and more of an unpopularity contest. Boris and Corbyn were widely disliked and mistrusted throughout the country. All that had been at stake was which leader was hated the least. And the exit polls had indicated that Boris had won. No one expected him to deliver on the promises he had made but they were less worried about that than the promises on which Labour might deliver. So we were heading for a Tory government and a Brexit that would continue to divide the country. Hell, it was odds-on that not even a majority of leavers would like the Brexit deal Boris ended up with. And in the meantime, Corbyn would soon be eased out. Written out of Labour's history. A bad dream that had cost the country dear."

John Crace at The Guardian discusses the worst election loss for the Labour Party since, perhaps, 1935

Phillip Blond at First Things adds an analysis.

As does Owen Jones, also at The Guardian, along with Alex Niven.

"What May Be Deplorable Must Not Become Incomprehensible"

"As the political scientist Eric Kaufmann points out, income and social background are having ever less bearing on voting behaviour: 'Small-c conservative working-class voters have migrated to the Conservative party because of immigration and Brexit. On the other side, successful educated cosmopolitans opt for Labour or the Lib Dems.' This is most vividly seen in the correlation between remain voting and higher education. This is not a matter of economics, he says, but 'a measure of psychological openness and a liberal worldview'. "

Simon Jenkins at The Guardian discusses white identity politics in Britain and the United States.

"Urge to Break Things"

"Myth-making and politics as performance are now delivering the keys to high office across western democracies. If politics has long intersected with the world of showbusiness, the 21st century has so blurred the two that they often seem to be one and the same. The president of the United States of America, as you may have noticed, does not derive his popularity from any conventional notion of substantive achievement, but instead from a daily pantomime of boasting and nastiness that keeps his supporters in the required state of excitement. Italy and now Ukraine have seen the rise of politicians who actually used to be comedians; in the latter, the latest development is the launch of a new anti-establishment party led by a rock star."

John Harris at The Guardian writes that "the Brexit instinct is at least partly about outrage for outrage’s sake–the kind of sensibility whose most vivid cultural manifestation was in the brazen provocations of punk rock."