In Conversation With George Eaton of The New Statesman

How The Staggers will cover the general election and Keir Starmer

Jun 03, 2024

Having spent almost all of his career at the British left’s periodical of record, George Eaton is uniquely placed to discuss the fall of New Labour, the party’s wilderness years under Ed Miliband and Jeremy Corbyn and the rise of Keir Starmer – the man who is tipped to be the UK’s next Prime Minister.

After a brief post-university stint at Politics Home, Eaton joined The New Statesman in 2009, not long after Jason Cowley was appointed editor in 2008. It was certainty a time of change.

As the global financial crisis continued, there was renewed pressure on Gordon Brown to call a general election. The former New Labour Chancellor turned Prime Minister could cash-in on his handling of the disaster.

But Brown didn’t hold a vote until May 2010. For many, he bottled it. The decision helped usher in 14 years of Conservative Party rule.

At the same time, the media industry was trying to deal with falling advertising rates and the rise of online news. It was an exciting time to be involved in British political journalism.

The boozy lunches in Westminster were beginning to fade as the narrative shifted away from New Labour in-fighting to address fundamental questions facing the future of the state and the economy.

“I think the crash just opened up a lot of economic debates…Austerity is probably the other thing I should mention,” Eaton said. “That was obviously one of the defining themes of the post-2010 period. That made it a particularly interesting time to be starting out with the New Statesman, because there were so many political debates and arguments triggered by that.”

New Labour was dead, or at least in hibernation, and that meant The New Statesman would have to reshape itself. Eaton said the outlet grew its relationship with the Liberal Democrats, who were now in government thanks to a deal between Nick Clegg and David Cameron.

Vince Cable, who served as Business Secretary in the Coalition Government, was a favourite for The Staggers. Either his policies were being talked about in the magazine, or he was appearing as a columnist.

Labour, meanwhile, were rebuilding under Ed Miliband. A long-time aide and then ally of Gordon Brown, Miliband was cast as a peace-maker between the Blair and Brown factions. But he had to stand against his own brother, David, for the leadership.

Miliband was considered to have a strong chance at beating the Tories at the next general election, but the 2014 Scottish Independence Referendum ultimately put an end to that ambition.

Though the ‘NO’ side won, the SNP enjoyed a resurgence, going on to win 56 out of 58 seats at the 2015 general election. Even Brown’s old seat of Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath went to the nationalists.

The Liberal Democrats, meanwhile, the natural opponents of the Conservatives in the south of England, were whipped out. The party only won eight MPs at the election.

“It’s worth remembering that there was a lot of expectation that Ed Miliband was in with a shot for being Prime Minister,” Eaton said. “So that gave us a story we covered then. I covered a lot on the splits within labour, why their polling position wasn't as strong as it appeared to some, but they also gave us a real political narrative to follow.”

Cameron’s success at the polls only went on to create more volatility in the shape of another referendum, this time on the UK’s membership of the EU. It was a different style of reporting for political journalists, especially for those in the Lobby or press gallery who were used to reporting on the proceedings in Parliament.

Instead, they now faced a never-ending campaign. For Eaton, who was the Political Editor of The New Statesman at the time, it was a period where he had to embrace different formats, sometimes through necessity.

“Your week is really defined by the column, you write the politics column, it's the slots, that long established slot in the New Statesman,” he said. “You're aiming to give the readers a sense of the week at Westminster, but also reflecting on the deeper shifts and themes across politics in a magazine style.

“But also, this is what has kept the job interesting is the site was in a period of fast growth. So alongside that, you'd be doing quick reactive pieces. And with a period like Brexit, you were having to do a lot of that, because there were so many key moments, day by day. And alongside that, you've got extended features, cover stories, interviews.”

After the Brexit vote, Cameron quit as Prime Minister and Theresa May took over as Conservative leader. With left-winger Jeremy Corbyn now as Labour leader, May sought to expand the Tories’ majority in the House of Commons and break a deadlock within her own party over how the UK’s split from the EU should be enacted.

May’s gambit was a miserable failure, with the Conservatives losing seats instead of gaining them. At the same time, The New Statesman was trying to redefine itself once again. The outlet had a frosty relationship with Corbyn, who was being supported by media outriders like The Canary and Novara Media.

Even when it came to the 2019 general election, when Corbyn went up against Boris Johnson, The Staggers refused to endorse the Labour leader. Keir Starmer’s leadership of the party has allowed the outlet to reset once again, whilst expanding and experimenting with new formats.

Veteran BBC political correspondent Andrew Marr joined The New Statesman back in 2022 and the outlet, much like its rival on the right, The Spectator, has made a big push on YouTube.

Viewers can watch Marr deliver video essays about the current state of British politics or watch The New Statesman’s podcasts. But probably one of the outlet’s biggest successes is down to a bit of old school tech, email. The New Statesman’s Morning Call has more than 100,000 subscribers.

Freddie Hayward will be looking after the newsletter throughout the election, while Marr will be writing a weekly essay for the magazine. Elsewhere, Ben Walker will be leading on The New Statesman’s polling analysis through State of the Nation, a sister title to the outlet.

Eaton, meanwhile, has re-joined the Lobby and will be keeping a close eye on Starmer and his team. He recently attempted to codify ‘Starmerism’ and has profiled some of Labour’s most important figures. They could all be in power very soon.

You can listen to the full interview below.

Other tech and media news of interest

🤔 TMTG latest. Readers of the newsletter will know that I keep a close eye on updates related to the Trump Media and Technology Group, the listed company backed by the former President. Despite Trump’s reluctance to get back on Twitter, his campaign team have joined TikTok. This is despite the fact that Trump attempted to ban the platform in the US as president.

WaPo shake-up. Will Lewis isn’t messing around at The Washington Post, which is facing heavy losses. Sally Buzbee, the outlet’s editor, is now leaving her role at the outlet, with Robert Winnett, who has been deputy editor of The Telegraph for ten years, replacing her.

Next AI upgrade in 2026. Nvidia has given more details around its next generation of chips. The Rubin family of GPUs will be rolled-out in 2026. Companies and nation states are already dealing with the immense CapEx costs required to keep up with the AI upgrades. And that doesn’t even include higher energy bills. Speaking of which, Google is planning to spend $2 billion on upgrading the data centre’s infrastructure in Malaysia.

Nigel Farage is back. The GB News host will be running for a seat at the general election after all. Farage is now also the leader of Reform, rather than its honorary president. The i Paper, meanwhile, has launched a new dedicated newsletter and most political podcasts have switched from a weekly to daily format. The first TV debate between Sunak and Starmer will be hosted by ITV on Tuesday, while the BBC’s first election debate will be hosted on Friday.

🎥 Video essays

📖 Essays

📧 Contact

For high-praise, tips or gripes, please contact the editor at iansilvera@gmail.com or via @ianjsilvera. Follow on LinkedIn here.

191 can be found here
190 can be found here
189 can be found here
188 can be found here
187 can be found here

Tech, Power & Media

Discussion about this post