From Vision to Vanity: Keir Starmer’s Photo Op Politics
Keir Starmer’s groovy 70s album cover for the Labour conference brochure has drawn laughs, but it reveals a deeper truth: Labour is all about style over substance these days.
While Corbyn fans were labelled a “cult,” Starmer’s PR evokes a 1970s variety show host clutching at dreams of celebrity. Maybe his swingin’ poses were inspired by watching too much Val Doonican while high on nostalgia?
The photoshopped aura of visionary leadership rings hollow without any actual vision or policies. But ideas are hard – it’s easier to fake inspiration like an Instagram influencer. Who needs substance when you’ve got a blue steel smoulder?
But the reality is voters care more about real change than politicians as icons. Corbyn drew crowds for his bold agenda, not his looks. Starmer relies on his airbrushed glamour shots to substitute for lacking any transformative plans. But I’m sure those will come eventually, right after his Vanity Fair cover shoot.
The media love a good image and none more so than the Times. This is how they show Sir Keir Starmer to the middle class Rupert Murdoch News Corp reading populace.
Perhaps if he spent as much time on new ideas as on getting his icon lighting just right, Labour’s vision would shine through. But change is work – better to pose as a messiah than hammer out the messy details.
A photogenic rebrand can only hide the lack of substance for so long before the hollow reality shows. But given recent leaders, “vacuous” and “Labour” go together like over-filtered selfies and bad policy.
True leaders don’t need personality cults. They earn trust through action, not PR. But Twitter likes slogans more than complex ideas, so here’s the meaningless mood music.
Style over substance is a dangerous road. Labour once promised fundamental reform – Starmer is a hollow brand. The reality behind the airbrushed exterior is as false as a Kardashian backside. Then again, “vacuous” and “Labour leader” have gone together like fish and chips lately.
The message is clear: Labour thinks the public are as easily wooed by a brooding portrait as they apparently are by empty platitudes. But this tongue-in-cheek glamour offensive has already backfired on Keir. Because we all know – politics is no laughing matter.
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