In a speech in May, Starmer was sober about the challenges ahead, vowing to put “country first, party second”.
“You cannot restore trust and respect with the politics of protest,” he said. “You cannot move our country forward with gimmicks and gestures. And you cannot truly serve the country if you only do what is convenient, that is why I changed the Labour Party. That is how we serve the British people.”
Many of the achievements of Attlee remain foundational to British society today, from the creation of the welfare state and NHS to independence for India and the signing of the NATO Treaty in 1949.
Starmer, like the first man to win a Labour parliamentary majority, appears to have the same deep commitment to delivering a better society, which served Attlee well as he grappled with the country’s immense postwar challenges.
But his path will not be easy. It is 27 years since Labour won a general election from opposition, and Starmer will face parliamentary ranks in which the majority of Labour MPs will have no experience of being in government, himself included.
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Today, like in Australia, the problem of poor discipline is also not confined to House of Commons debates.
Instead, some Labour MPs are inclined to use social media as their proverbial soapboxes. As Starmer discovered when it came to the Israel-Gaza conflict, party discipline may be difficult to maintain when they are forced to take votes that are unpopular with their members.
Perhaps more importantly, under Starmer, the Labour Party has been reticent about sketching a clear program for government.
There remain sizeable gaps in the Starmer policy agenda. He has vowed to “turn the page forever” on held-back potential to put wealth creation and economic growth at the heart of Labour’s manifesto.
But what is the answer to the social care crisis? How will Labour address long-term wage stagnation?
Britain’s postwar PM Clement Attlee smiles at a cheering crowd in London in July 1945.Credit: AP
Opportunities for transformative change are rare and cannot afford to be missed. Attlee seized the opportunity in 1945. Starmer must do the same eight decades later.
After 14 years of chaos, he may get a short grace period. But his challenges are so vast that the honeymoon won’t last as long as he might like.
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