00:00Let's talk next to Alastair Jones, the independent political commentator.
00:04Alastair Starmer won a landslide majority two years ago. Why is he gone?
00:10He's gone now because of the craziness of the UK Parliament and also the UK media.
00:17What has been interesting is, you heard the comments there from your correspondent,
00:20from people around the world, leaders, about how impressed they were with Starmer,
00:24and in his resignation speech, he gave a long list of just some of the achievements
00:28that he's led his government to.
00:31But none of that has resonated with the UK public.
00:34The UK media, for the most part, are looking for anything that he does wrong and playing that up.
00:40So, for example, the appointment of Peter Mandelson as the ambassador to the United States,
00:45he was slated for that.
00:46But interestingly, the leader of the opposition and the leader of Reform UK, Nigel Farage,
00:51both supported that appointment.
00:53And it was amazing how quickly they've U-turned and then attacked Starmer for that mistake.
00:59So there's been a whole lot of people just looking for the negatives,
01:02and he's not been able to control that agenda, that news agenda,
01:07that most prime ministers are normally able to do.
01:09These weren't simply domestic problems, though, were they?
01:13President Trump had a rather difficult relationship with Prime Minister Starmer
01:16and seemed to announce Starmer's resignation before Starmer announced it.
01:21I mean, how difficult has the governing of the UK been in the shadow of Trump?
01:27I think it's been very, very difficult indeed.
01:30And the fact that Starmer was willing to stand up to Trump when he attacked Iran,
01:35there was a big issue there, in particular a number of UK politicians attacking him
01:40for not standing by our biggest ally, our most important ally.
01:45But the problem has been is that the UK sees it's having a special relationship with the USA,
01:50and in a special relationship, sometimes it is important to tell your best friend
01:55if you're doing something wrong.
01:57And Starmer had an ability to do that, and Donald Trump did not like that.
02:01What we actually saw was plaudits from around the world
02:04for Starmer's international statesmanship in standing up so diplomatically to Donald Trump.
02:11This isn't just a British problem, though, is it?
02:14I mean, other countries, I mean, we just have to look across to Europe,
02:17struggle to find longer-term political stability.
02:21Why is that?
02:23I think it is to do with, dare I say, a fickle voting population,
02:28but also how difficult it is to actually control a news agenda.
02:33With social media now being so prolific and AI being so important
02:37and fake news appearing all over the place,
02:41it is becoming hugely difficult, if not impossible,
02:44for governments to actually control a news agenda
02:48and actually get their story across.
02:50It's far easier for opposition politicians to throw brickbats
02:54at everything that's going on, saying what's wrong, what's bad,
02:57and this is going on around the world.
02:59And basically, governments are having to respond to all of that,
03:02because if they don't, they're clearly hiding something,
03:04and then the news agenda just goes off
03:06in all sorts of weird and wonderful tangents.
03:08There will be a new prime minister.
03:11Will anything change?
03:13The same old problems won't disappear, will they?
03:17I think we will have almost exactly the same problems in the UK,
03:21the one difference being that Andy Burnham
03:24has a slightly better public image, public persona.
03:29He appears to have more personality than Keir Starmer.
03:32Keir Starmer always appeared very doer, very drab,
03:35a lawyer, boring, but he was the perfect antidote
03:40to the craziness that we had in this country
03:42when we had Boris Johnson leading us,
03:44where his flippancy and his craziness had been an election winner,
03:48but were also phenomenally bad as a prime minister.
03:51So Starmer was the antidote,
03:53but it transpires that the people didn't like that antidote.
03:56For those who aren't experienced in the world of Westminster politics,
04:01perhaps watching outside the UK,
04:03does there now have to be a general election?
04:07No.
04:08The only way that the time needs to call a general election
04:11is five years after Parliament is reconvened
04:14after the last general election,
04:15or if the government loses a vote of no confidence,
04:19or if the prime minister decides to call a snap election,
04:23and that's most unlikely to happen.
04:26The Labour Party do not have to have another election
04:29for another three years, basically.
04:32So Andy Burnham,
04:33assuming he becomes the new leader of the Labour Party
04:36and thus the prime minister,
04:38has got a largely free hand to do what he wants,
04:40but all the opposition parties
04:42will be demanding a general election
04:44because they'll say he doesn't have a personal mandate.
04:47The reality is he doesn't need it.
04:50Alistair, thank you.
04:50Good to see you.
04:51Alistair Jones, the independent political analyst.
04:53Alistair Jones, the independent political analyst.
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