There is no democracy in the world where the transfer of power is more brutally abrupt than in Britain. In America, a new president does not take office for nearly three months. In Australia, a new government is usually sworn in during the week after polling day. But when there is a change of government in the UK, except on those rare occasions when a close result means a short period of political limbo, the transition is immediate.
The removal vans arrive at the back entrance to 10 Downing Street early the next morning. The outgoing prime minister emerges and makes some dignified farewell remarks, before being driven away for the last time.
Brexit is likely to remain a major political issue for Labour’s Sir Keir Starmer.Credit: Getty Images
Shortly afterwards, the new prime minister arrives in triumph. After some words appropriate to the significance of the occasion, he then walks through the famous black door.
It’s all very informal, in a typically understated British kind of way. No inauguration. No brass bands. No parades. (The Brits leave the pomp and circumstance for the monarchy.) Just a private audience with the King, a short speech, a brief pose for the cameras, and the nation’s new leader disappears behind the door. That’s it. Even in Australia, with a televised swearing-in ceremony followed by champagne on the lawns of Yarralumla, we make a bigger fuss.
So it will be on the morning of Friday, July 5, when Sir Keir Starmer, having stepped inside No.10 for the first time as prime minister, is received by cabinet secretary Simon Case and a small number of other senior officials, and then welcomed by the household staff. If you’ve seen the movie Love Actually (who hasn’t?), you get the picture (though it’s safe to assume that, unlike Hugh Grant’s character, Sir Keir won’t suddenly be smitten by lust for the tea lady).
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If you think it premature to call the election now, appreciate that there is not a single serious commentator in the UK who expects that, with little more than a fortnight to go, the Tories – still 20 points behind, and blighted by a campaign that has been a cavalcade of blunders since the day it began – can turn this around.
With the result so predictable, the election itself has become boring. The more interesting question is what happens next.
We can expect to see the most dirigiste British government since the 1970s. Starmer, an unapologetically self-described socialist, is committed to renationalising significant sectors of the economy, establishing new state-owned enterprises such as “GB Energy”, and significantly expanding the welfare state.