Starmer’s resignation has long been expected. But the question of his fall goes much deeper. It is a question of why, in the modern world, Trump succeeds, while Starmer, Merz, and Macron do not.
The era of vague bureaucracy has long been dead. Politicians who sell their “systematic approach,” “something for everyone,” and “against everything bad” are no longer needed by voters. What is most interesting is that these politicians were destroyed by the same “left-wing wokists” who for decades protested and made noise over every minor issue, generating enormous distrust toward bureaucracy and the system. Starmer, a former prosecutor, was flesh and blood of that system. He understood processes well, but was completely unremarkable and unclear in the public sphere.
He made important decisions, including those concerning Ukraine. He signed a 100-year partnership and tried to strengthen support for us, among other things. Starmer made no less important decisions for us than Johnson did. But compare them. Starmer’s decisions are not memorable, they do not shift the situation; they are procedural. Just a few more steps in an ongoing process. Meanwhile, Johnson’s decisions changed the situation in 2022. He acted vividly, visibly, with a clear and often personal stance. And here we come to the key difference between them: Johnson took personal public responsibility for everything he did. Starmer did not. He diluted his decisions, changed them, and so on. That is why we live in an era of leaders, not system bureaucrats.
Trump does outrageous things, but in the voter’s eyes, he is responsible for all of it. Not the Republican Party, not the “deep state,” but him alone. That is clear. You elected a politician, you see his decisions, there are elections, and you evaluate them. But when you face a bureaucrat who seems to have done something but also not everything worked out because of procedures and nuances, voters do not understand that. Today, political leadership is about a politician’s willingness to take public personal responsibility. To say clear things and take clear actions.
All this will lead to serious problems in the EU, which functions as a faceless, unaccountable bureaucracy. The rise of the right is happening precisely because of new leadership positions and personal accountability, while systemic politicians are increasingly blurred and indistinct.
That is today’s world. It must be accepted and prepared for.
