Most people could have been forgiven for forgetting that, over the last several months, Labour members have been in the process of deciding their next leader. Clearly, the Labour leadership contest has been overtaken by events, but even before the coronavirus crisis hit many saw the coronation of Sir Keir Starmer as a foregone conclusion. 

The campaign was not the ideological battle many expected. Instead, it deteriorated into a contest over a very narrow conception of “electability,” in which the candidate that looks and sounds most like previous prime ministers had a clear advantage – an advantage Starmer managed to maintain because the other candidates largely refrained from challenging him.

But we must recognize that another reason this contest was quite so boring is that none of the candidates could deviate too far from the policy agenda decided at last year’s conference. In 2019, Labour conference passed motions in support of the Green New Deal, a four-day week, maintaining and extending free movement, closing migrant detention centers, and integrating private schools into the state sector – all thanks to brilliantly coordinated campaigns from Labour’s members and trade unionists. Those policies remain overwhelmingly popular among Labour members.