'It was essential to get rid of this government': Irish in London celebrate new Labour dawn
Now Starmer Opportunity Demonstrate ' To To Were The Him Right Put People To Their They 'keir Has Trust In
“Things... can only get better.”
It set the tone when a rain-soaked Rishi Sunak announced a general election, in what now feels like a very long six weeks ago. The D:Ream song that Tony Blair had adopted as his campaign theme back in 1997 drowned out the speech Sunak hoped would kickstart a Tory resurgence that would keep him in Number 10.
And it felt a fitting bookend to the race when it was the first song spun on the decks in a south London pub on Thursday night, as dozens of young Labour activists whooped and cheered as the euphoria of the exit poll predicting a massive landslide sunk in.
The Royal Vauxhall Tavern is a popular gay bar in Vauxhall which was due to host a night dedicated to Madonna hits on Friday night. It’s unlikely to see another party like it saw for the LabourList shindig on Thursday night for some time though, as Labour fans got into the groove ahead of the 10pm exit poll landing.
Given the Conservatives had been in power for 14 years, a majority of those in attendance would never have had the chance to vote in a Labour government before. These are the true believers dedicated to the cause. Some bought prosecco, confident and ready to crack it open when it was confirmed. Others refused to believe the polls, having canvassed at the doors for weeks and fearing some sting in the tail at the end.
It felt like a mix between a panto and your typical football-watching pub in here. The BBC coverage started at 9.55pm and the presenters started by setting the scene and showing the main players as they had gone to vote earlier.
When Keir Starmer came on the screen, there were cheers. When Rishi Sunak came on, there were jeers. The biggest boos were reserved for Nigel Farage, living up to the “he’s behind you” villain role.
We then had a New Year’s Eve-esque countdown, with the shouts of “3, 2, 1” paving way to a deafening din as it revealed Starmer had led Labour to a historic majority and back to power. The pints flowed and the jubilance bounced around the room for quite some time afterwards.
It was time to celebrate.
Dubliner Christina Quigley had been one of the canvassers knocking on doors in central London right up to the final hour for the Labour party. She moved to England for college and joined the party in 2006. Thursday was a high after 14 long years of lows under the Conservatives.
“Four defeats in a row in 2010, 2015, 2017 and 2019, it was incredibly dispiriting,” she said. “There were definitely some low points. People felt like they couldn’t vote for Labour. They were telling us they couldn’t trust us.
“But people trusted Labour enough to vote for us in such numbers this time. Keir Starmer has the opportunity now to demonstrate to people they were right to put their trust in him.
Colm Murphy is a lecturer in politics at Queen Mary University of London. His family hail from West Cork and Kerry, but he has lived in England since the age of five.
He called it a historic election, both in terms of the thumping Labour majority and the Conservatives’ worst performance in modern history.
“Under the surface, there’s a lot of churn and choppy waters that complicate things,” he said. “But that doesn’t take away from how historic this Labour win is.”
There’s an undeniable green hue to this new Labour government.
England has Irish MPs in Deirdre Costigan in Ealing-Southall and Cork-born Damien Egan in Bristol North East. Inside Number 10 itself, another Cork man, Morgan McSweeney from Macroom, will be celebrating a job well done as campaign director for Labour. A key Starmer ally, he has won praise from political commentators in Britain for Labour’s historic victory.
Ms Quigley said Irish people in London were always very engaged in politics at home and abroad, and were keen to make their presence felt at the ballot box given the right to vote in British elections is open to Irish citizens, but no other European citizens can.
“I think there’s a lot of frustration for a lot of Irish people living in London as there’s little coverage of Irish issues here,” she said. “The average person in Dublin knows a lot more about the UK parliament and its characters than vice versa. People here would struggle to name who the Taoiseach is.”
Writer and columnist Seamas O’Reilly’s entire time spent living in London has been under Tory rule, having moved over in 2011. He said it was a “gross simplification” that Irish people were more politically engaged than the English.
“But I also think it’s true,” he said.
The Derry native is also under no illusions about the task facing Starmer.
“This Tory government, it’s a bit like the ship of Theseus,” he said. “Or Trigger’s broom. It’s changed drastically but it’s still the same government.
“Certainly since I’ve been here, the decrepitude of public services has been staggering. The need for change has been so strong for a long time. Someone like me who’s raising kids here, you can’t get a dentists’ appointment or a doctor’s appointment. It’s not that it takes time, you literally can’t get one.
Watching from afar, the oddities of British politics can appear strangely compelling. In Ireland, we go to sleep after casting our votes before the count starts the next morning, which can then last for days.
In Britain, they start counting immediately after the polls close and will have most seats filled by the time everyone wakes up.
It’s a surreal scene as 'Things Can Only Get Better' gives way to 'Sweet Caroline' in the Royal Vauxhall Tavern, and the big screen is playing the race between Blyth and Sunderland as to who can count the votes fastest and declare a winner first. There’s no prize for being the first. But here, they are running about the place and counting frantically anyway.
You may think you’re hallucinating from lack of sleep but no, that is a man dressed in a baked bean costume standing next to Troy grandee Jacob Rees Mogg as he loses his seat at 4am. That is the camera zooming in on an outwardly serene Liz Truss as the former prime minister learns she has lost her seat.
Mr O’Reilly said: “It’s a deeply unserious political culture here. You have involved debates between extremely educated people on whether Keir Starmer is patriotic enough. Or whether Jeremy Corbyn should’ve worn a tie.
“There is such fluff and a strange overlay of this culture war stuff. It doesn’t trickle down to ordinary people. But then, it’s this complete nonsense being talked about on top of extremely important issues while the country is falling apart.”
Away from the intrigue, the real world effects of this election are significant. Earlier on the day on Thursday, the passed a food bank near Tottenham Court Road, with dozens of people queuing up.
The reliance on such food banks have soared under Tory rule. Waiting lists on the NHS have soared. House prices have soared and, like Ireland, are increasingly unaffordable for young people.
The public finances in Britain are a mess, and it makes for a hefty in-tray for Starmer and co as they take the reins at Number 10.
“It’s a historic challenge because of the nature of the landslide,” said Mr Murphy. “Dealing with those challenges, you’re going to be making enemies. They have a huge number of seats with small majorities. There won’t be such a thing as a safe seat next time.
“Their plans are reliant on growth, but some of the things they will do may be deeply unpopular in some constituencies. It will take a massive challenge of statecraft, not only to obtain power and achieve your aims with it but also then retaining it.”
Critics of Labour say Starmer’s approach has not been radical enough to affect the change that Britain needs over the coming years. Given the task now at hand, how the change promised can be achieved without raising the funds to do so remains to be seen.
“That’s the million dollar question,” Mr O’Reilly said. “Or, in terms of the NHS, it’s the 92 billion dollar question.
“Keir is coming in with a huge mandate. But if there’s three bad news weeks for Labour, it’ll be hard to find anyone who’s rattling the tin for them. It’s a functionary ‘get those guys out, but you’ll be on a short leash' from much of the media.
“I’m extremely hopeful [Starmer] will surprise me by being more progressive or at least more radical in trying to change things. But it’s easier to say the radical thing than to do it. And if you’re afraid to say it, then it’s a worry.”
In the first few weeks, Mr Murphy said we could expect Labour to come out all guns blazing in areas such as planning reform and in foreign policy. To create the sense that after years of shifting prime ministers and general chaos, that they are a serious player again.
Ms Quigley believes within that will be a much better relationship with Ireland than there had been previously.
“The former Conservative government didn’t really care about Ireland,” she said. “Already it feels very weird to be describing it as the former Conservative government. This is huge change.”
Meanwhile, the Tories, battered and bruised, will go off to plot anew and consider whether a lurch even further right is the way to go. And they will share the sentiment that jubilant Labour fans and millions of voters now hope in the aftermath of this historic election.
Things... can only get better.
