The Cautious Messiah
A man from the people but not of the people
A brief note.
Keir was the last person I saw before I ended my last job. Known him on and off (very tangentially) since university politics.
In office, he made a foolish ambassadorial appointment was and a bad mistake on winter fuels.
He didn’t manage the Parliamentary Labour Party, least of all its huge, unruly new intake.
But abroad, he repaired Britain’s relationships — with Europe, and with Ireland.
The visceral public hatred is largely a product of a press and a feed that run on contempt. But perhaps also of disappointment.
He was a cautious Messiah, taunted by Trump, silent on Gaza. He turned a massive majority into a mandate for the modest and mundane.
His government did many small, decent things to improve Britain. But no really big ones.
And he was neither a curator of public anger nor a performer for the people’s amusement.
His resignation speech reminded me of the well-intentioned village policeman in The Wicker Man, realising he is to be sacrificed by the brutish, ignorant islanders.
His resignation speech reminded me of the well-intentioned village policeman in The Wicker Man, realising he is to be brutishly sacrificed by islanders whose beliefs he never understood.
I wish him well. And a happier life out of office.
Best,
Adrian