The 2024 Westminster election has demonstrated the transformation of Labour into a party that pursues power at any cost – but at the cost of a moral vacuum. We’re used to unionist journalists praising this characteristic in the Tories as a demonstration of a party that can “reinvent itself when needed”, but Starmer, guided by his trusted strategist McSweeney, has now achieved the same with Labour.

But how does this suite the UK? And is this the only choice for politicians hungry for power at any price? What was the new Labour approach, and who was responsible? What does this all mean for Scotland?

Tldr: Westminster is declining as a democratic model, and Labour’s embrace of Tory strategy simply accelerates the exclusion of Scotland. To fix it we need a modern PR-based system, such as one based on the Danish model, that ensures we are all represented. The most likely way this can be achieved is by regaining Independence, and ensuring that such a system is written into Scotland’s new constitution.

The declining Westminster system

The Westminster system has served the Tory and Labour parties well. At the start of the union the Lib Dems got a long turn at UK power. Who controls the UK has always been decided by voters in England but more recently – and particularly since World War II – the “union” of the UK nations has always been determined by England’s choice of either Tory or Labour.

Westminster still uses First Past The Post (FPTP) voting for its elections. Virtually all other countries in the rest of Europe ditched this unrepresentative system long ago in favour of Proportional Representation (PR):

FPTP means that most voters see their preferences unrepresented in Parliament – never mind Government itself. In the 2024 Westminster election Labour won a large landslide in seats – and yet only about one third of voters preferred them. Consider what this means for our situation in Scotland:

In 2024 the SNP won considerably fewer seats than Labour in Scotland, yet only had a slightly smaller number of voters preferring them. This led to about 80% of SNP voters having their preference unrepresented in Westminster.

In general this is part of a long-term trend in Westminster not serving Scottish voters:

Of course it suites the Tory and Labour parties to simply take turns at power. They don’t have to share, and can concentrate on their own priorities – whatever most voters prefer. One side effect of this FPTP model is that a relatively small number of “swing” voters can decide each constituency result. And with by far the largest number of seats to be won in England, this means that the parties concentrate on swing voters in England above all else.

So democracy – the extent to which voter preferences matter and are represented in Parliament – is declining in Westminster. Instead Tory and Labour parties adjust their policies to appeal to right wing swing voters in England to achieve their turn at power.

Lack of Labour ambition

Of course Proportional Representation (PR) would fix a lot of Westminster’s democractic deline. But neither Tory nor Labour want to share power and be forced to negotiate over their policies. FPTP suites them.

Under the current Westminster FPTP system Labour has two strategic choices: sell the value of its socialist policies better; or move right and appeal directly to the existing prejudices of swing voters in England. Whilst Corbyn attempted the first – and won 40% of the vote – Starmer played the system and won a landslide with only 34% of the vote.

Rather than focussing on how to make Labours core values under Corbyn successful in a Westminster FPTP system, Labour members unhappy with their 2017 election loss worked to undermine Corbyn, and win power whatever the cost to Labour’s core values – the Tory approach to “reinvention”.

Adopting the Tory strategy – power at any cost, with a moral vacuum

Some in Labour have always wanted power at any cost, even if this left their party in a moral vacuum. But the majority in Labour were able to resist this. With the failure of Corbyn to secure power, despite his voter popularity, this minority started to gain traction.

The focal point for this “One Nation Tory” approach was the Labour Together think tank. In particular, communications professional Morgan McSweeney in his appointment of director in 2017, which kick-started the success of Labour Together in its work to undermine traditional Labour thinking.

McSweeney had history.

McSweeney was brought into Lambeth Council by Steve Reed to run his election campaign (Reed is now Starmer’s Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affair). It became notorious for the dirty tricks Labour ran against the Lib Dems – focussing on made-up controversies designed to appeal to the target swing voters, rather than Labour values.

After a period of power-building for McSweeney’s brand of morally vacuous power-at-any-cost politics, he was recruited as a director for Labour Together in 2015. Today you can see Starmer’s thinking directly reflected from this centre right thinktank, and it was from here that McSweeney ran Starmer’s successful leadership campaign.

McSweeney subsequently masterminded the Labour 2024 Westminster election campaign – having first ensured that any remaining supporters of Labour core values were neutered or deselected. In return a new role was created for him at No.10 – Head of Political Strategy.

Nepotism – what happens when you lose your moral values

As we saw in the Tory years upto 2014, when you abandon moral values in political life in pursuit only of power, then corruption and nepotism become rife. With McSweeney’s style of politics we can see this starting to repeat itself in Labour – nowhere more clearly than with his own wife Imogen Walker.

McSweeney and Walker were both London Labour Party activists – and when McSweeney ran the dirty tricks campaign for Labour’s Lambeth Council election campaign, Walker wasn’t far behind. Whilst McSweeney’s candidate Steve Reed was being elected leader, she was being elected as a Councillor.

It’s not clear why Walker was selected for this election, but concidentally it is at exactly the same time that her personal relationship with McSweeney starts.

Subsequently McSweeney’s influence increases in the Labour right – as he is recruited as a director of Labour Together and successfully runs Starmer’s leadership campaign. And look – Walker comes back from parental leave after the birth of McSweeney and Walker’s son – and is given the role of Head of the Leader’s Office at Croydon Council. A publicly funded role that had no formal selection process, and was previously vacant for some time. And at a time when Labour-led Croydon Council had sufferred serious financial troubles and was making many staff redundant.

And whilst McSweeney was seeing Labour Together fined £730,000 for more than 20 breaches of electoral law over declaration of donors, in 2021 Walker was given yet another role – this time at Sandwell Council. Another Labour-led Council in trouble. Paid handsomely as a “consultant”, Walker continue in the role of Head of the Leader’s Office right up until her election as a Westminster MP in 2024.

Fast forward to 2023 and McSweeney can be found busy working for Starmer on clearing out anyone still loyal to Labour’s traditional values – where necessary, ensuring their deselection with the help of Labour’s discredited Anonyvoter selection process voting system.

In fact this technique was applied to the Hamilton consitituency where Labour HQ clearly wanted to position Walker. Unfortunately the local party members voted decisively at their husting not to select Walker. Thankfully Anonyvoter was their to allow online “voters” to come to the rescue. Walker – despite having lived and worked in London for many years – became the candidate for Scotland’s Hamilton & Clyde constituency.

And the benefits of being McSweeney’s partner didn’t stop there. No sooner was she elected as a new Westminster MP than she was given the plumb role as Personal Private Secretary to Rachel Reeves, Labour’s new Chancellor of the Exchequer.

With McSweeney in No.10 what could be a happier ending than Walker keeping an eye on No.11 and those Labour back benchers – particularly the ones with moral values rather than a laser focus on that second term.

What this all means for Scotland

Westminster is declining as a democratic model, and Labour’s embrace of Tory political strategy simply accelerates the exclusion of Scotland. To fix it we need a modern PR-based system, such as one based on the Danish model, that ensures we are all represented.

Neither Labour nor the Tories show any sign of making anything more than minor changes to the way Westminster works. Despite promising to abolish the House of Lords in 2022 (to “restore trust in politics”), Starmer subsequently modified this into simply removing remaining hereditary peers. With no changes to the Commons, and minor tinkering such as this to the House of Lords, promised Labour “change” really has become a joke.

By far the easiest way for Scotland to reform our Westminster-based democractic system is by regaining Independence, ditching Westminster, and ensuring that reforms are written into Scotland’s new constitution.

After Independence we can decide whether to remove “accident of birth” as the way to choose a Head of State – and become a Republic. Most small democracies only have one chamber in their Parliaments and make do with a seperately elected President – we certainly won’t be reproducing a House of Lords!

Whatever the future holds – join the discussion about Scotland’s future, consider supporting your local Yes group, and Believe in Scotland. And don’t forget to support a Scottish party in elections – after all, they’re the only focussed on Scotland rather than Westminster power at any cost.