In this government's hands, big ideas always end up looking small. Just ask Ed Miliband | Rafael Behr
In this government's hands, big ideas always end up looking small. Just ask Ed Miliband | Rafael Behr
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Labour is constantly torn between its self-image as a party of radical change and its fear of alienating voters with the wrong kind of radicalism. When Keir Starmer became Labour leader he was unpractised in politics. For advice, he naturally turned to someone who had done his job before and with whom he had a good personal rapport: Ed Miliband.
![[Rafael Behr]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/uploads/2017/10/09/Rafael-Behr,-L.png?width=180&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
As Starmer grew in confidence he stayed friendly with Miliband, deferential to his status as a veteran of government and appreciative of his sincere enthusiasm for the energy and climate brief. But the new leader was also ruthlessly focused on winning power, and increasingly alert to toxicities in the Labour brand. He was persuaded that the journey to Downing Street could be completed only by jettisoning policy baggage and paying less heed to people associated with past failure.
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Miliband’s counsel was downgraded. I remember one shadow cabinet minister observing acidly that “if Ed wants to be helpful he should offer to visit every constituency Labour party in the country and explain how to lose an election”. The arc of Miliband’s influence describes a tension that is still unresolved in the Starmer project – between Labour’s self-image as a party with radical purpose and the constant fear of alienating voters with the wrong kind of radicalism.
