Fit and proper
It was essential, McSweeney would tell his audiences, that the first criterion for choosing a candidate should be that they are a “fit and proper” person for the job.
In a cynical age when most voters have no automatic loyalty to parties in the way they used to, fielding credible candidates is even more critical, he argued. Trust is personified in the individual standing on the doorstep, according to McSweeney. Voters must see the Labour rosette pinned to a candidate’s lapel as a mark of quality, in his view.
McSweeney believed the Labour party Starmer inherited when he became leader in 2020 was, in places, “corrupt.” By that, he meant Labour officials behaved as if the party were a sort of “private club,” designed to serve its members and their interests, rather than the country.
Mandelson’s membership of Epstein’s club of the super rich and powerful now threatens to wreck Starmer and McSweeney’s careers, alongside their mission to restore voters’ trust in politics. For outraged Labour MPs, the suspicion now is that McSweeney’s own closeness to Mandelson blinded him to the risks.
In the end, it may all come back to trust, how it’s built. Starmer trusted his long-standing friend and ally McSweeney, who is reported to have pushed for Mandelson to be appointed. McSweeney trusted Mandelson, who had been his friend and mentor for decades. And Mandelson, as the past quarter-century shows, had a weakness for rich men that would prove toxic to the party he served.
In politics, governments are only as strong as their weakest link, which is why trust alone is rarely enough. McSweeney knew that once.
“Landslide: The Inside Story of the 2024 Election,” by Tim Ross and Rachel Wearmouth, is published by Biteback.