An insight into the functioning of predecessor Labour leaders would reveal that no one ever tried to experiment with pro-people or left politics. Almost all of them tried to be on the right side of the government. The only exception has been Jeremy Corbyn, who during his stay as the leader tried to evolve ‘Corbynism’, which has never been more relevant than in the existing situation.

No doubt with the election of Starmer as the Labour leader, Corbyn’s leadership ended this week, exactly as his opponents always hoped it would. Having been defeated in the general election, described as politically irrelevant, criticised by his own party leaders for questioning the government’s policies, Corbyn, even before his exit, was dumped. He was painted as a failed leader in the eyes of the Britons. The fact is after the Labour lost the general election, his reputation hit the nadir. He was derided and told that he has no right to exist as a significant public figure.

But in this game of derision, he reigned as a leader. In the wake of the coronavirus induced public emergency, the Boris Johnson-led Tory government implemented all the suggestions he had made earlier, in a bitter twist of irony. In fact, expanding the state’s role in society and the economy is what much of Corbyn’s career had been devoted to. Corbynism is primarily the politics of addressing emergencies: the stark inadequacies of modern capitalism, the damage caused by state austerity, and the accelerating effects of the climate crisis.

There is no denying the fact that most of the policies and programmes that the Boris government envisages; whether it is state paying people’s wages, keeping businesses afloat, and “is judged by its capacity for compassion”, as the chancellor Rishi Sunak puts it, have been propounded by Corbyn and invariably suit the leftwing Labour party that Corbyn is passing on to Starmer.

Corbyn had a vision: of a radically more equal and greener Britain. But it never quite came into focus for voters. The affluent and middle class voters of England could not comprehend his ideological stand. Nevertheless, his policies will help Starmer immensely.

Corbyn’s leadership came to be run not by “a new kind of politics” but by the left wing of the old politics. Momentum’s role as a brilliantly effective mobilising tool injected the new spirit of internal democracy. It is significant to watch that Keir Starmer is taking over command of the party at a pivotal moment, and it is absolutely clear that he will need the left in more ways than one.

Choosing the members for his shadow cabinet provides an insight about the priorities and policies to be adopted by Starmer. He has made Lisa Nandy, one of the candidates he defeated to become Labour leader, his shadow foreign secretary, and Anneliese Dodds, who became an MP only in 2017, his shadow chancellor. The MPs still loyal to Jeremy Corbyn, there was no immediate role for them. Rebecca Long-Bailey, Corbyn’s favourite in the leadership race, has been discarded. His important associates have also been dropped.

Nandy scored over the Cardiff MP Jo Stevens who was being lined up for the post. Nandy bagging the prime slot owed to her vicious campaign against Corbyn. During election campaign her mantra was that Labour must “change or die”. On foreign affairs, she was critical of what she said was the disinclination of Corbyn and his team to criticise Russia, and she called for a more positive defence of international values.

Yet another important reason that is being cited for entrusting Nandy with the task of heading foreign office has been the compulsion to win over the Indian diaspora.

Starmer's election has been widely welcomed by the Indian diaspora‘s representative group Labour Friends of India (LFIN), which called on the new Opposition leader to work on rebuilding trust and stronger India-UK ties.

The Labour party has traditionally attracted loyal support of the Indian community, with over 50 per cent of Indians living in the UK voting Labour in 2017. Under the former Labour chief Corbyn's leadership, many British Indians had turned away from the party, which led to the Labour's massive defeat in the December 2019 general elections. British-Indians disliked Corbyn’s opposition to abrogation of Article 370 and his pressing a resolution at Labour’s annual conference in favour of international intervention in Kashmir.

After the revocation of Article 370 and the communication ban that followed in the valley, Corbyn as the UK's leader of opposition had tweeted, on August 11: “The situation in Kashmir is deeply disturbing. Human rights abuses taking place are unacceptable. The rights of the Kashmiri people must be respected and UN resolutions implemented.” This was largely seen as a move to placate Pakistani voters and also as an anti Indian stand.

The Indian community has for long supported Labour, mainly due to its stand on immigration. During the elections the Indian voters had switched their loyalty to the Conservative party. It is feared that Labour lost nearly 25 traditional seats due to this shift.

Indians say “the Labour Party must also make the changes necessary to win hearts, minds and trust of the British people, including that of the 1.5 million strong British Indian community”.

Starmer did not hide his priorities in falling upon anti-Corbyn leaders. He was candid; “I will have in my shadow cabinet those that want to serve towards the future aim of winning that next general election. It’ll be a talented, balanced shadow cabinet. We’re not looking back, we’re not badging people by the past. We’re going forward to the future, focusing on how we win the 2024 general election.” He made it clear that Labour needed significant change. “We just lost four elections in a row and therefore of course we need to change. If we don’t change we will lose the next general election.”

The shadow cabinet will be recast to remove Corbyn-loyalist and make better use of the talent pool on the Labour benches that has been under used in recent years. He will have a fight, which he must win, to remove the Corbyn acolytes at party headquarters. A leader is never properly in charge of a party unless he can count on the loyalty of the general secretary and other key officials.

The primary task before Starmer would be to prove himself in the prevailing situation. He is known to be a decent and pleasant leader but not a tough task master. Significantly Keir Starmer, as the party’s shadow Brexit secretary, he enjoyed the trust and confidence of Corbyn. During the last three months’ of leadership campaign Starmer like other contenders never spoke hard truths to members about the reasons for Labour’s defeat.

The cautiously calibrated route that he chose to take to the Labour leadership largely eschewed taking any positions that would divide party opinion. His victory statement on Saturday echoing the relentless mantra of his campaign speeches, called for unity. He said he wants Labour to be both “radical” and “relevant”. Strange enough he spoke warmly about the legacy of the Corbyn years, while also saying that the party should rehabilitate the New Labour era.

The leftwingers who supported Starmer nurse the hope that he will put a more credible face on a Corbynite programme. He also attracted a lot of backing from the centre-left, including New Labour luminaries Charlie Falconer and Andrew Adonis. Some Corbynites suspect he’s a covert Blairite, while some pragmatists worry about his radical pledges. (IPA Service)