Keir Starmer, the strangely charisma-free and policy-light leader of the UK Opposition is flexing his muscles in what insiders describe as a ‘witchhunt’ inside the Labour Party. Jeremy Corbyn is already banned from standing at the next election and his compadre John McDonnell fears he may be next to go. Even centrist figures are deemed at risk as he tightens his grip and reportedly aims to close down dissenting or independent voices. Starmer is also expected soon to carry out a shadow cabinet reshuffle.
The previous post February 17 2023 lays out Starmer’s unhappy path ahead which does not look like a winning formula despite the Tory shambles.
His relationship charts with both Labour 27 February 1900 and 12 February 1906 are both aggravated to start with. The Labour 1900 has a lacklustre, undermining composite Sun square Neptune and a bitterly, hostile and power-struggling Mars square Pluto. The 1906 relationship is no better with a fractious, bad-tempered, one-sided Mars square Saturn and again a limp Sun square Neptune. Both have the chilly, separating Saturn transits in hard aspect in 2023/24, with jolts, jangles and significant tensions at the same time.
Starmer’s relationship with Angela Raynor, his Deputy Leader chosen by the party not him, is less than rapturous this year (in the freezer) and seriously aggravated in 2024/25. He also has a stormy ride with Lisa Nandy in 2024/25 with little that looks like good feeling or joint success in evidence.
With John McDonnell, there is heavy pressure this year in the midst of devastating confusion – and separation next year if they last that long together in the same boat.
His Leadership chart, 4 April 2020 10.45 am London, makes more sense as events unravel. There is a mushy, slippery, smokescreening Neptune on the Midheaven; with an aggravated Mars Saturn conjunction tucked out of sight in the 8th – and a supremely-confident, power-hungry Jupiter Pluto conjunction.
His personal chart, 2 September 1962, is talented, determined, controlling and not always realistic – with a central Water Grand Trine which can be creative/healing and also lives in its own bubble detached from outer events and that is formed into a hard-driving Kite by a Jupiter opposition Pluto Sun in Virgo. There is a good deal more high-octane fuel in his tank than is obvious from his dull exterior. Not that it will help as he is running into the buffers in 2025/26 in a terminal meltdown, politically speaking. Angela Raynor might benefit in 2025 but Lisa Nandy won’t.
I can’t see Starmer lasting over the next three years.
My impression from The Times is that Wes Streeting is being groomed as the next leader, what do you think Marjorie ?
Thanks Marjorie. I don’t think I know anyone who is looking forward to the next election. Looking at the UK National Government of 1931-1945 (27th October GE) there’s a t-square of Saturn in Capricorn, Uranus in Aries, and Pluto in Cancer that year. These aspect the UK Moon (the public) in Cancer. The tiny Labour majority of 1974 had a GE on 10th October. Mars at 17 Libra was square Saturn 18 Cancer, again aspecting the UK Moon. Were the public feeling angry and depressed back then? Pluto at 7 Libra was on the UK ascendant. 1974 Jupiter at 8 Pisces aligns with Keir Starmer’s natal Jupiter, it squared Neptune 7 Sagittarius. Keir’s Jupiter trines Neptune. Oddly, the National Government’s Neptune is 7 Virgo.
There are numerous minority and coalition arrangements in British political history over the last century or so. I increasingly think there could be another one after the next General Election. The 19 Aries Eclipse next April could be interesting, again aspecting the UK Moon in Cancer. It is triggered by Mars in Aries in May, and Mars in Cancer in October.
Such an odd mixture of anger and apathy around at the moment. A Labour landslide along the lines of 1997 feels very unlikely at this point. Back to Hugh’s tea time assortment of red cake, blue cake, and orange cake…….all tasting more or less the same!
My impression is that no one knows where they are going – or life is going at the moment – like walking into a fog. Nothing seems clear cut.
Yes indeed Marjorie. I know we can’t place everything onto the manifestations of just one outer planet. But out of curiousity I was thinking about late degree Neptune in foggy Pisces.
Looking at 1860, for example, there’s the Second Opium War, the establishment of Florence Nightingale’s first nursing school in London, and the establishment of the predecessor of the Battersea Cats and Dogs Home. It’s also intriguing that this year sees the publication of The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins. Themes of deception, madness, drugs, obscured identities, and so on in that brilliant novel. Also, the first installment of Dickens’ Great Expectations was published – with some Neptunian themes of doomed love, disappointment, delusions and deceptions etc, and it’s famous opening scene features a sinister misty marsh setting for the meeting of young Pip and Magwitch.
On we go through the 21st century fog, trying to make some sense out of it!
It’s only when you mentioned the year when I realised that the last Neptune in late Pisces also coincided with the Great Stench, when sewage was being pumped directly into the Thames and that coincided with a particularly dry and hot summer.
Also politically speaking, a faction of the Tories (the free trade Peelites) at the time were gradually splitting away from the Tories and supporting the then Whig, later Liberal government of Palmerston.
We could see Remainer Tories gradually breaking from the Tories and migrate to either the Lib-Dems or a very moderate Labour.
UMM – very interesting re the Tories, who are certainly in chaos right now. But then they do tend to have form for that. Also the Great Stink! Here’s another astro echo – the man who engineered the new Victorian London sewerage system was Joseph Bazalgate, 28th March 1819. He had Mars 3 Pisces, Saturn 22 Pisces, Uranus 24 Sagittarius, Neptune 28 Sagittarius, and Pluto (sewage underground) 26 Pisces.
I remain annoyed with Keir Starmer for his wibbly wobbly words about the water companies. Possibly in Mercury in Libra overdrive – on the one hand, on the other hand etc. Great for the law, not so great for other matters.
There are problems ahead for anyone in politics. The difficulty with political astrology is that it can point in the wrong direction. So sometimes the loser in an election say can have good Jupiter aspects as they are relieved of responsibility can can expand elsewhere so to speak. The winner conversely has a more complicated chart.
I wonder whether Starmer’s problem may be that he has too big a victory which causes difficulty in managing his party.
I am not taken by the charts for parties or for appointment dates. Starmer’s does lack fire but otherwise seems reasonably well balanced though one wonders why he is a politician.
Election prediction is not easy – I remember a while back a Greek politician standing for high office in the midst of a crisis who had very upbeat influences on his chart – and he lost, handing on the poisoned chalice to someone else. And Michelle Obama’s chart look totally horror struck when Barack won first time round.
But Starmer’s chart does not look like the chaos of winning in difficult circumstances.
I agree party charts are iffy but administration/term/ appointment charts usually work very well.
I think it’s more about which planet/planets play a major role in one’s career. In case of Sunak it looks like Uranus, his chart shows natal Sun opposite Uranus.
From June 2023 for a year Uranus will be conjunct Sunak’s Sun. In April 2024 it will be joined by Jupiter. Interestingly, it is in June 2023 that the biggest threat to Sunak’s position wiped out – Boris Johnson suffered the ultimate downfall by resigning as MP. Now Sunak’s position is secured till the next election.
In February 2024 Saturn will be opposite Starmer’s Sun. I don’t know how that would play out. Plus I don’t see any major/big transits for Starmer in 2024 which usually propel a leader to power, even if they are horrendous.
Please give us a PM who does not lie every time he opens his mouth. I couldn’t care less about charisma if he does what he says and puts Country before Party. It’s been far too long since there has been any decency in politics.
Julie
I agree I’ve had enough ‘charisma’ mendacity incompetence and immorality to last me a lifetime!
Whoever wins the election will inherit a very bare cupboard and huge debts.
Labour are determined not to over promise like at last election and to cost everything which is why it has to be a totally different manifesto.
There will be house building investment in education and nhs but also reform and smarter thinking on how money is spent.
The green investment etc has been slowed a little from necessity not binned as there just isn’t the cash after Lynn Truss crashed the economy.
We are a long way from an election so it’s too early to lay out all plans.
Tories have a history of pinching the best ideas from other parties.
Don’t envy anyone who is given the job of sorting out the mess the country is in..
Attlee appeared very boring after the war when he succeeded Churchill but he founded the NHS etc.
I vote for policies not ideology or false promises of which we’ve had a surfeit the last 4 years especially.
Thank you Marjorie. The word that comes to mind with Starmer is underwhelming. There has to be an “it” factor with an incoming PM – Starmer is not lighting fires.
Karmer has been lucky on polls throughout the last year mostly because the Liberals have been lacking a good leadership and strong new and charismatic faces to fight for the next general election. There’s a clear majority in the country waiting for a new and improved relationship with the EU, like a Switzerland-style deal with some new rules for immigration from the single market which are possible with some patience and time, and Karmer is not going to deliver this alternative to the public. If the Liberals come with the promise of a new negotiation to achieve a kind of Switzerland-style deal followed by a new referendum, the polls will suffer a strong change.
The people that will not allow a Switzerland style deal is the EU.
The EU wants to tear up the Switzerland deal itself. It wants to standardise the deal with Switzerland into a single treaty as it has with the other members of the EFTA.
It is Switzerland refusing to go with it, preferring a mesh of sector-wide treaties that the EU finds hard to deal with.
We will not get a Switzerland style deal from the EU.
Some links on the EU-Switzerland deal to read.
Swiss abandon years of EU talks and reject treaty
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-57251681
What’s the future of EU-Swiss relations now talks have collapsed?
https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2021/05/28/what-s–future-of-eu-swiss-relations-now-talks-have-collapsed
Switzerland is facing a dual crisis over its relations with the EU
https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/europpblog/2021/06/29/switzerland-is-facing-a-dual-crisis-over-its-relations-with-the-eu/
One alternative is to renegotiate the EEA treaty with Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, the EU and even Switzerland, as the House of the Lords proposed back in 2019. The United Kingdom would be back to single market, with a new Court just for trade, new rules for immigration, and veto power over rules approved by the EU Parliament. The separation of the single market from the EU would be also good for other european countries, allowing an easier access to the single market, like Ukraine, Georgia, Serbia, Armenia or even Israel. Macron seems open to this option. Moreover, just look what is happening right now in France and ask: do you prefer immigrants from Eastern Europe or from Pakistan and Nigeria? Because the UK needs foreign workers, and without people from Poland or Romania the country is going to receive people from India and Pakistan, and those that voted for Brexit because they don’t want more immigrants inside the country are going to feel betrayed.
I am going to say something controversial here and I am sure that others will correct me on this. Marjorie, if this is too offensive for this site, please delete this post.
“do you prefer immigrants from Eastern Europe or from Pakistan and Nigeria?”
I actually think that the UK is more comfortable with migrants from Pakistan and Nigeria than Eastern Europe. The UK does not share much history with the Continent, except perhaps France and Germany. It certainly shares little to no history with Poland or Romania for instance.
Conversely, it shares a lot of history with Pakistan and Nigeria. Because of colonialism, Pakistan and Nigeria have similar governmental setups, understanding of judiciary, etc and of course a shared language helps massively. Literally none of this is true between the UK and Eastern Europe, with whom we share nought but neighbours.
The other factor is that with people from Pakistan and Nigeria, the UK can impose conditions on and requirements (educational, income, etc) for their entry and stay in the UK, something not possible with free movement of people. Under FoM, any Tomas, Ricardo and Henrique can move to the UK and the UK can do nought about it, even though they do not fill the specific labour shortages that the UK has.
Besides, the UK has already got significant communities of South Asians (~5% of the population) and Africans (~3% of the population), a Prime Minister of Indian descent and both a prominent Mayor and First Minister of Pakistani descent, to feel uncomfortable with Asian and African immigration. By contrast, France and Germany can’t boast of integrating their minorities as well. I believe the only other European nation that has done well on this score is the Netherlands.
EU countries on the continent share a lot of history going back centuries. Most of what is now Poland was German till a few decades ago. Conversely, most of what is now Ukraine was Poland till it was redrawn a few decades. Which is why it is possible for continental Europeans to see each others as one and the same. Their families have probably lived in multiple countries while remaining in the same village. That is just not the case in the UK, where even after the union with Scotland, the borders have remained defined. And we have a very well-defined ancient border with the continent; the English Channel.
One note: Switzerland has a party very similar to the UKIP of Nigel Farage. They want to have access to the single market, but they don’t want to receive migrants from Eastern Europe or to follow the rules to control and avoid tax evasion. That party has been blocking the negotiations with the EU the last 30 years. Maybe that’s the future for the UK. Decades of negotiations because the ERG and Nigel Farage followers will block everything, unless we have a new strong and pragmatic conservative leader with strength to expel the ERG.
Marjorie, quick question please. Do you see any chance of us rebuilding our relationship with the EU (and possibly dare I say it without having the wrath of Telegraph and Express readers breathing down my neck in perpetuity) perhaps even rejoining, in the next 5-10 years? Many thanks
Will the EU want us back after such a messy divorce, also knowing that a significant minority (about a third?) of the public do not want to rejoin?
And even if they are, on what terms? We had generous terms before Brexit and yet Brexited.
Would less generous terms, such as being required to join Schengen and the Euro and almost certainly losing the rebate, be acceptable to the British public?
It takes two to tango. And I suspect neither partner trusts the other at the moment.
Boris’s legacy is that we exited with no route back. He burnt all remaining bridges.
Uk politics is broken. More than half of the electorate really have nowhere to go if they want a centre left government. And not left as in the 1970s militant left, but what would be mainstream in most successful European countries.
I think Starmer will win because the Tories have already lost the election but I don’t see him winning like Tony Blair did. He’s also very authoritarian which is worrying.
Either way the UK public will continue to suffer as the postwar consensus of good public services, a welfare state and equality is never coming back.
It will take decades to repair the last 13 years and for thousands upon thousands of children their life chances have already been destroyed.
Silver Darling this is it. Most people I know are just depressed about the next Election. My forty something relatives, who are the generation who needs captivating, are lacklustre about life. Trapped in spiraling taxes and dismissed for mourning the EU, they are like; the oldies who voted remain, feeling bludgeoned by what this country is turning into. No Government inspiration, as no plans about the NHS spiralling costs, living problems or future goals. It is as if a mist has descended on this country, whereby Parliament is living in a parallel country. Starmer is not that popular. Most I know have no intention of voting for him. Or anyone for that matter. I am inclined to think it will be a messy time, with no clear winner. We will still have Pluto in the fourth house of the UK’s chart during the next Election, and for a some years, then it enters our fifth house, the house of creation – how is this going to pan out? We have already lived through Johnson’s catastrophic era – perhaps it is tiredness of this nowhere humdrum?
I think what you say about politics — and government — being broken applies equally to the US and to many other countries. Look at France, for example. We all lack popular, inspirational, democratic leadership. We don’t need the destructive authoritarian “populism” of a Hitler, Mussolini, Duterte, Johnson, Le Pen or Trump. Modern democracies seem to have lost their way.
Any hope, astrologically, for improvement for our poor, suffering countries in the near future?
You have now where to go in British government if you want any form of centrist government. The right is too right and the left is too left. No happy (or less happy middle) anywhere
It beats me why he ever went into politics. I’m sure he was more in his element as a Doughty Street silk. Was it ever his own ambition to lead the Labour Party or was it ‘a duty’ foisted upon him by the overhopeful parents who gave him that first name?
It’s not that surprising he’s bland … no planets in fire … Saturn in Aquarius trine fence-sitting Libra Mercury and an unemotive moon. And then Virgo Sun/Pluto/Uranus in analytical risk-free Virgo at the point of the kite suppressing the enthusiasm of the water planets. But again, Mars in Cancer is passive-aggressive.
Just this week Keir Starmer has expelled Neal Lawson, the leader of Compass, from the Labour Party – just because Neal posted a tweet a couple of years ago praising the actions of progressives co-operating with each other.
‘Progressives’ co-operating with each other is exactly what we so dearly need right now (in my opinion), so this action seems terribly short-sighted.
Yvette Cooper or perhaps Wes Streeting would be an improvement on Starmer I think, with the public anyway. Is it worth having a wee look at the runners and riders in the Labour Party? We desperately need new blood…
Anyone expecting an incoming Labour government to pursue policies very much different to Sunak’s faltering regime is likely to be disappointed. On past form the most noticeable change will be that Labour rarely oust a leader in No 10 unlike the Conservatives. The Tory habit of turning into an anarchic Parliamentary rabble addicted to leadership sacrifice when facing problems at the polls is almost certainly going to doom them to opposition.
‘I can’t see Starmer lasting over the next three years’.
So, are the Conservatives set to win the next election?
Against all the odds, polls and pundits?
Can’t rule it out, it has happened before, but what does the astrology say?
If the next election is in mid 2024, transiting Uranus and Jupiter will both be conjunct Sunak’s natal Sun and opposite his natal Uranus.
I don’t see any powerful transits in Starmer’s chart next year.
No, but he could lead a minority government and then call another General Election in a year or two (like 1974).
And who knows who the Tory leader will be by that time. And if they will have cleared the Aegean stables of Boris supporters (as how Starmer has done with the Corbynites in his party), the Tories may become electable again.
Besides, Marjorie has warned us in other posts across the site, of other countries and the UK having major financial issues and other crises in 2025-27.
Thank you – very depressing, we desperately need the Tories out and Labour are the only ones to do it, although far from perfect.
Thank you! I daresay the question remains whether he can lead Labour to victory or whether the Tories somewhat surprisingly manage to pull the proverbial bunny out of a hat!
Gut feeling, just gut feeling, but the next Parliament will be a hung Parliament, with a Labour minority government and the SNP and Lib-Dems giving support on an issue-by-issue basis. No party will want to get into a coalition after the last Coalition government led to a hammering for the Lib-Dems.
Also gut feeling, Penny Mordaunt will be the Leader of the Opposition for the Conservatives after the election.
The UK is an inherently conservative (with a lower case “c”) country and the radical plans of the Greens or the Labour left (or indeed the Conservative right) do not go down well with the public. The path to power lies through the centre.
It will be a hung parliament I think, but feel Penny M has far more ambition than to be leader of the opposition. She will be rewarded with a role at a supranational level, UN/Nato, given her naval background and given that we will be in a hot wars on so many fronts by then. In those circumstances and as the wars will be led supranationally it doesn’t really matter who we have as leader of the opp or very much who the PM is as our interests as a very tiny (and shrinking) world and financial power will be subsumed into a greater plan.