In April, I wrote that Britain's soon-to-be-elected Labour government would be disliked in "no time". "No time" meant six months or thereabouts. Apologies for the naivete.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer's approval rating has dropped 45 percentage points in a little more than two months.
His crime? Well, there has been a hint of financial sleaze, though on a scale so small as to bring home the relative innocence of British politics. A cut to pensioner perks, sensible on its own terms, looked bad next to a generous wage deal for National Health Service doctors. Here was a reminder that Labour, however moist-eyed it gets about miners and steelworkers, is the political arm of the public sector middle class.
Still, none of this is gross misgovernment. Labour hasn't had long enough to be terrible. The likelier explanation for so steep a fall is that voters were ready to deplore the new administration and took the first excuse.
If this seems a cynical analysis, look around the West: Popular leaders are rare, and it would be some coincidence if it was their own incompetence at fault in each case.
Mr Olaf Scholz is set to become just the second one-term chancellor of Germany since the Federal Republic's creation in 1949. President Emmanuel Macron has incurred the most vehement protests in France since 1968, twice. In a nation that used to have era-defining presidents, neither of his two predecessors made it past their first term. Australia has had seven changes of prime minister since 2007. It had four in the previous 32 years.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة September 27, 2024 من The Straits Times.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة September 27, 2024 من The Straits Times.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
BTO flats ● Construction time varies, based on project attributes
We thank Ms Michelle Chin Yan Rong (Cut 6-year wait for 2 HDB projects launched after pandemic, Sept 5) and Ms Priscilla Poh Beng Hoon (Couple managed to raise 2 kids while waiting for flat, Sept 6) for their feedback.
EVs ● Condo's chargers affected due to poor cellular connectivity
I am writing as a council member of a private condominium to highlight a challenge we face in supporting Singapore's Green Plan 2030, particularly in encouraging the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs).
Education • Relief teaching never felt like a chore to me
Forum writer Chan Wai Han's letter \"Relief teaching stint long ago convinced me not to enter the profession\" (Sept 26) does not gel with my perspective of relief teaching.
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I refer to the letter \"Concerted effort by govt agencies to tackle vaping problem\" (Sept 25) highlighting government agencies' efforts to tackle vaping.
PRICE PAYS VISIT AT FATHER'S OLD TURF
Fame, history could well be in the Makin for Australian ex-Bukit Timah jockey's son Will
Ravalli at the finish
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KOSI & CO. GEAR UP FOR BIG DAY
Other Gold Cup hopes Lim's Saltoro, Dream Alliance, Smart Star sparkle at trials as well
Child abuse, no matter the extent, has many consequences
I refer to the article “Less serious child abuse cases in Singapore on the rise: Inaugural report on family violence” (Sept 26).
The curse of the Michelin star
Restaurants awarded the honour are more likely to close, research finds.
The end of the popular politician
Decade after decade of peace and affluence in the West has ironically made voters less and less satisfied, even with competent governments.