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Labour talks down election hopes but Starmer could face heat

Leader may come under pressure to change tack if party fares badly, despite boost to Tories from furlough scheme and Covid jabs
Labour strategists say their electoral chances this week have been hampered by two welcome, and successful, government policies: the furlough scheme, under which the state has paid millions of people’s wages, and the successful delivery of the Covid vaccine.
Keir Starmer’s team point out that the feelgood factor from the vaccine rollout, and the relaxing of restrictions on voters’ everyday lives, would be a challenging backdrop for any opposition party. And they insist his is a long-term project of restoring Labour to winning form by the time of the next general election.
Starmer himself has repeatedly said he and his colleagues have “a mountain to climb”, and his allies are pinning their hopes for Thursday’s elections on modest gains far away from the “red wall”, in Scotland and the south of England.
But if the party fares as badly this week as some polls have suggested – losing Hartlepool’s seat at Westminster to the Conservatives and going backwards in areas Labour hopes to win in 2024 – Starmer could come under intense pressure from colleagues to change tack.
In particular, while his allies are now highlighting potential gains for Labour in south and south-west England, Starmer’s strategy in the 12 months since he took over has been aimed squarely at recapturing seats such as Darlington, which his chief of staff, Jenny Chapman, lost to the Conservatives in 2019.
A poor performance in areas such as Doncaster, which may hint at further potential red wall gains for the Tories, and any signs that Labour continues to go backwards in areas such as the West Midlands where it lost nine Westminster seats in 2019, would spark alarm within the parliamentary party.
That is highly unlikely to mean a leadership challenge, however. Disgruntled Corbynite MPs almost certainly couldn’t muster the 40 MPs necessary to kick off a race (the leftwing Socialist Campaign Group has 34 members), while Labour’s centrists have the humiliating memory of Owen Smith’s vainglorious 2016 candidacy seared on their memories.
But Starmer’s critics on both wings of the party may well feel emboldened to push for a shadow cabinet shakeup – and perhaps a rejig of the leader’s office, too.
Some frontbenchers complain that Starmer’s close-knit team are cautious and controlling, keeping the shadow cabinet on a short leash – perhaps partly as a reaction to the leaks and hostile briefing of the Jeremy Corbyn years.
Starmer’s team have repeatedly insisted there are “no plans” for a reshuffle, but they could decide to seize the moment for a fresh start.
The Labour leader had already been planning to make more speeches and policy announcements in the coming months as the acute phase of the pandemic recedes. But he will face far more intense pressure to do so if Thursday’s results are disappointing, and as Boris Johnson prepares to use the Queen’s speech next week to ramp up his plans to “build back better”.
One seasoned Labour adviser suggested Starmer would be wise to ignore the knee-jerk reactions of colleagues from all sides of the party, and wait for the dust to settle, however. “On Friday, you’ll have people on the right saying: ‘You haven’t done enough to purge the Trots’ and people on the left saying: ‘Bring back Jeremy’ – but we’ll still be counting votes on Monday,” they said.
source: Heather Stewart
Levant
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BENEFIT Sponsors BuildHer...
- April 23, 2025
BENEFIT, the Kingdom’s innovator and leading company in Fintech and electronic financial transactions service, has sponsored the BuildHer CityHack 2025 Hackathon, a two-day event spearheaded by the College of Engineering and Technology at the Royal University for Women (RUW).
Aimed at secondary school students, the event brought together a distinguished group of academic professionals and technology experts to mentor and inspire young participants.
More than 100 high school students from across the Kingdom of Bahrain took part in the hackathon, which featured an intensive programme of training workshops and hands-on sessions. These activities were tailored to enhance participants’ critical thinking, collaborative problem-solving, and team-building capabilities, while also encouraging the development of practical and sustainable solutions to contemporary challenges using modern technological tools.
BENEFIT’s Chief Executive Mr. Abdulwahed AlJanahi, commented: “Our support for this educational hackathon reflects our long-term strategic vision to nurture the talents of emerging national youth and empower the next generation of accomplished female leaders in technology. By fostering creativity and innovation, we aim to contribute meaningfully to Bahrain’s comprehensive development goals and align with the aspirations outlined in the Kingdom’s Vision 2030—an ambition in which BENEFIT plays a central role.”
Professor Riyadh Yousif Hamzah, President of the Royal University for Women, commented: “This initiative reflects our commitment to advancing women in STEM fields. We're cultivating a generation of creative, solution-driven female leaders who will drive national development. Our partnership with BENEFIT exemplifies the powerful synergy between academia and private sector in supporting educational innovation.”
Hanan Abdulla Hasan, Senior Manager, PR & Communication at BENEFIT, said: “We are honoured to collaborate with RUW in supporting this remarkable technology-focused event. It highlights our commitment to social responsibility, and our ongoing efforts to enhance the digital and innovation capabilities of young Bahraini women and foster their ability to harness technological tools in the service of a smarter, more sustainable future.”
For his part, Dr. Humam ElAgha, Acting Dean of the College of Engineering and Technology at the University, said: “BuildHer CityHack 2025 embodies our hands-on approach to education. By tackling real-world problems through creative thinking and sustainable solutions, we're preparing women to thrive in the knowledge economy – a cornerstone of the University's vision.”
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