Jeremy Corbyn and Keir Starmer are often portrayed as opposites inside the Labour Party, but there are important parallels between them. Both emerged from Labour’s soft-left tradition, both presented themselves as reformers of the party, and both relied heavily on grassroots support during their rise. Corbyn built a mass membership movement around anti-austerity politics and democratic socialism, while Starmer initially campaigned for the leadership on a platform that largely preserved Corbyn-era economic policies, including public ownership and stronger workers’ rights. In both cases, they appealed to members who believed Labour needed a decisive break from the party’s recent past.
Another similarity is that both men depended on party unity rhetoric while presiding over deep internal divisions. Corbyn struggled with hostility from much of the parliamentary Labour Party, especially over Brexit and antisemitism controversies. Starmer, meanwhile, has faced accusations from the Labour left that he centralized power and marginalized dissenting voices in order to make Labour more electorally acceptable.
Starmer also played a direct role in Corbyn’s political downfall inside Labour. Although Corbyn’s initial suspension in 2020 was formally imposed by Labour officials after his response to the Equality and Human Rights Commission report on antisemitism, Starmer publicly condemned Corbyn’s statement and backed the suspension. More significantly, after Corbyn was reinstated as a Labour member by the party’s disciplinary process, Starmer personally refused to restore the parliamentary whip. That decision effectively isolated Corbyn from the parliamentary party and signaled that he would not return to mainstream Labour politics under Starmer’s leadership.
The final break came when Corbyn stood as an independent candidate in 2024 after being barred from running as Labour’s candidate in Islington North. Labour then formally expelled him from the party, completing a process in which Starmer had been a central political actor throughout.
What goes around comes around? Jeremy Corbyn had some great ideas, he was and still is a genuine Labour man. He was along with Ken Livingstone and George Galloway someone who had a better grasp of Irish politics. Therefore he was public enemy number one in the eyes of Britain’s predominantly right wing press. Starmer should have kept away from Mandelson.