British Politics Is in MELTDOWN... Here's Why Aaron Bastani Meets James Butler

[Celerity]

It has been a seismic week in British politics. The two-party system has collapsed. Keir Starmer is digging in at Downing Street, while Labour leadership contenders line up outside, and Reform clouds gather overhead. Now: the most important by-election in more than a century looms. How did we get here? And what happens next?

On this week’s Downstream, Aaron Bastani is joined by James Butler, contributing editor at the London Review of Books and co-founder of Novara Media, to make sense of the paradigm shift underway in British politics.

How has first past the post, long promoted as a source of political stability, become the background for systemic chaos? Why is there such a democratic deficit in Britain, and what can be done about it? Have two lost decades on the economy simply killed both historic parties? And where should progressives position themselves, as we now begin the slow march towards the final general election of the 2020s?

00:00 Introduction
02:42 Was Starmerism Doomed to Fail?
12:06 The Democratic Deficit in Britain
20:10 Andy Burnham’s Backstory
23:03 Peter Mandelson: Paper Tiger
23:54 The Fire Hose of Content: How Media Has Changed
25:49 The Beginning of a New Political Era
33:01 Why are Labour MPs So Out of Touch?
44:56 Proportional Representation Census US-Style Primaries
56:48 Labour Collapse in Wales
58:08 Politics Is More Than Just Numbers
1:02:52 The Truth About Reform’s Performance
1:07:34 Britain Living in the Past
1:16:33 The Possibilities of this Moment
1:25:55 The Green Party’s Next Moves
1:31:35 The Political Realignment Explained
1:35:34 What the Left Gets Wrong About Reform Voters
1:39:21 Labour’s Role in the Cost of Living
1:43:54 Britain's Landlord Problem