But with a huge Parliamentary majority delivered on a share of the vote that would ordinarily spell defeat, this was more about the Tories losing than Labour winning. The old assumptions have been torn up. Throw into the mix an increasingly five-party (six in Scotland) system where once it was two and the potential for electoral volatility if Labour ends up disappointing is obvious.
The Starmer Symptom brings together leading political writers to navigate the complex terrain of this seismic shift in British politics. This unique collection analyses voter data, and looks at the break-up of the two-party system with the rise of a populist right in Reform UK and a new independent left. Will Keir Starmer's government be able to successfully combine the pragmatic and social democratic to produce radical change? And if not, who is waiting in the wings?
Mark Perryman's previous books include The Corbyn Effect, The Moderniser's Dilemma and The Blair Agenda. A pioneer of a left culture rooted in the convivial and participative rather than command and control, Mark mixes politics and culture as the co-founder of the self-styled 'sporting outfitters of intellectual distinction', Philosophy Football.