In some ways, this has been a boring contest. But the result isn’t boring. It was almost an universally held belief, only a few months ago, that Labour was in the hands of the left permanently- that Jeremy Corbyn would be able to pick his successor.
That hasn’t happened.
That hasn’t happened.
Though Starmer’s victory seemed assured from early on at the start of this contest, it didn’t seem that way. It was still thought to be RLB’s to lose. Very canny politics from Starmer helped change the landscape.
The left’s hold was always more brittle than it appeared. However, it still required some deft manoeuvring to secure enough of the left’s support to triumph. Starmer has borrowed from the Wilson playbook.
That isn’t to say Starmer will now reject the left or doesn’t share at least some of their politics. But temperamentally, spiritually- he’s clearly not one of their number.
Starmer’s mandate is a powerful one. However the manner of his running makes it slightly thinner than the numbers suggest. His mandate is for unity. Problem might come when/if he tries to do something which isn’t especially uniting.
RLB did especially poorly among affiliates and registered supporters. But she still got nearly a third of the membership. The left still has a decent chunk of support and some voted for Starmer. They’re down but certainly not out. 
