A couple of months ago I wrote a piece discussing the state of Labour and their time in office. Safe to say, it wasn’t the most glowing of reviews. The local elections that happened last week suggest that the public agrees with me – but only somewhat. 

Labour has not been punished as much as I and the media expected, still retaining a majority of councils. Yet still, Starmer’s head lies on the chopping block ready for slaughter and like Marie Antoinette he is still turning a blind eye to the calls of the public. It seems that his continual pandering to the right has not worked and as such, the repeated calls of Scottish Labour for Starmer to call it a day are ringing louder than ever through the antiquated halls of the houses of Parliament. So, is Starmer’s time as PM really coming to an end?

The answer to that question isn’t as simple as yes or no. From a leftist point of view, one would hope that he would be gone by the end of the day. Starmer has had his finger far from the pulse of leftism, transforming a party formed on the union and the will of the workers into the staple of centrism in this country.

However, hope is not enough in this scenario. Starmer has been criticised time and time again by the left, whether it be for proscribing Palestine Action, restricting the rights of the transgender community, or sounding like a human doing an impression of what a snail would sound like if it could talk. However, Starmer has turned a blind eye to these criticisms and remained with the same dull and damaging policies.

 Therefore, it seems convincing to say Starmer will continue in office and continue to waste precious time for a party on the brink of electoral disaster, unless a feasible leadership challenge arrives.

Many have been touted for leadership for some time, but the name that keeps recurring is that of Andy Burnham. Burnham is currently mayor of Greater Manchester, having had his bid to become an MP blocked by Starmer, Hannah Spencer of the Green Party cantered to victory in Gorton and Denton. That being said, in recent weeks there has been a sustained buzz around his name, with talks of revitalised leadership bid to put the Labour Party back on track.

Although seemingly far better than Starmer, there should still be reservations surrounding Burnham.

Starmer appeared similarly left-wing in his years before leadership and was an employed human rights lawyer; now in office he’s complicit with a genocide in Israeli-occupied Palestine. Moreover, Burnham has flirted with leadership before and failed, losing to both Jeremy Corbyn and Ed Miliband. This begs the question, is Burnham really equipped for leadership? Or is he just a glorified loser that may be a Hail Mary for a Labour Party on the ropes?

Other potential candidates include former Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner, who supposedly had her website for her campaign leaked earlier this year, alongside current secretary of state Wes Streeting.

If one possesses a shred of left-wing idealism, Streeting is by far the worst candidate. For one he is part of the current government, a government that has essentially been stripped of any left-wing politicians. He was also allegedly tutored by Peter Mandelson, a man that regularly liaised with known sex-trafficker Jefferey Epstein. Not a street I’d like to go down, that’s for sure.

No matter the route the Labour Party goes down, whether that be Burnham, Streeting, Starmer or Rayner, change is required.

The electorate is disenchanted with the current out of touch Labour Party and in order to scrape together any chance at the next general election that must be fixed.

Labour has to recognise the current strategy of echoing Farage’s ‘stop the boats’ rhetoric just slightly quieter won’t get them anywhere. They must become what they once were – a party for the working classes, a party that is truly left wing.

Even so, it may be too late for Labour. Polanski’s Green’s are on the march with their politics of hope and even the staunchest Labour voters have begun to question their allegiance