Tony Blair has waded back into British politics, and to the surprise of absolutely nobody, he’s managed to ruffle quite a few feathers in the process. Writing a hefty 5,700-word essay on his think-tank’s website, the former Prime Minister argued that the Labour party didn’t win the 2024 election because voters were in love with their manifesto. He claimed people were just fed up with the Conservatives.
Let’s be clear, I don’t think Labour won the last election because people read the manifesto and said, ‘this is what we want’. I think people thought that Conservatives have behaved completely unacceptably, and to Keir Starmer’s great credit, the Labour party was an acceptable alternative.
Blair isn't just dwelling on the past. He's warning current leadership hopefuls—including the likes of Andy Burnham and Wes Streeting—that they're risking everything by abandoning the centre ground. He suggests the party’s current path is driven by a dangerous "almost infinite capacity for self-delusion." He predicts this will lead to a loss at the next general election.
This unprompted intervention has landed poorly with the current government. Dan Tomlinson, a junior Treasury minister, was sent to the BBC studios this morning to clean up the mess. He didn’t hold back. He pointed out that Blair’s obsession with the 'Old Labour vs. New Labour' debate feels like ancient history to those who weren't even born when Blair was in Downing Street.
Tomlinson argued that the world has fundamentally shifted since the 1990s. He noted that while Blair’s era was defined by a different economic landscape, today’s workforce is struggling with zero-hour contracts and job instability. The government is currently pushing new employment rights legislation to address these modern gaps. This effort marks a specific attempt to modernize workplace protections that Blair’s previous playbook doesn't cover.
While the formal leadership race hasn't kicked off just yet, the atmosphere in Westminster is already thick with tension. Andy Burnham and Wes Streeting are known to be positioning themselves for the top job, while Angela Rayner is also monitoring the situation closely. Keir Starmer, meanwhile, is doing his best to defend his legacy while juggling international duties. Today, for instance, he is meeting with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk outside London to sign a new defence treaty.
Some analysts, like Peter Walker, argue that Blair’s essay reveals a man frustrated that the political class is stuck in an insular bubble. Blair believes the real battleground for the century is Artificial Intelligence. He feels UK politicians are too busy bickering over old ideologies to tackle the seismic shifts AI will bring to our daily lives. The party's response to a man who last held office nearly two decades ago is a central uncertainty for the future of the movement.
The Conservatives are in a bit of a bind regarding this intervention. Normally, any critique of Labour from an election-winning former leader would be celebrated by the opposition. However, Kemi Badenoch has remained silent. She seems to be struggling with the irony of finding herself on the same side of an argument as a former Labour titan. For some, the habit of opposing everything the left says is just too difficult to break, even when you agree with the premise.