The speed at which political leaders are currently being burned out in democratic societies is something that is no longer news. The players change so quickly that some pass without leaving a trace. The British Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, has suffered a severe defeat in the municipal and regional elections, leaving his future continuity very uncertain. He only came to power two years ago, but his image has deteriorated so rapidly that some Labour leaders have already started sharpening their knives to deliver the final blow. Our correspondent in London, Rafael Ramos, has long predicted his decline and today offers us the alternatives. The most popular is the Mayor of Manchester, Andy Burnham.
In the nearly eight years Pedro Sánchez has been at the head of the Spanish Government, he has seen Theresa May, Boris Johnson, Liz Truss, Rishi Sunak, and now Starmer pass through Number 10 Downing Street. Five leaders. In France, in the same period, seven other prime ministers have passed through the French Government headquarters, the Hôtel de Matignon: Édouard Philippe, Jean Castex, Élisabeth Borne, Gabriel Attal, Michel Barnier, François Bayrou, and Sébastien Lecornu. It is not normal for so many politicians to seem like disposable Kleenex.
The fall of Labour has not meant the growth of the Conservatives, which has always been the natural alternative. The winning party in these elections has been Reform UK, the far-right party led by Nigel Farage, who would be prime minister today if yesterday’s results were extrapolated to a general election. Farage, a supporter of Trump, has managed to benefit from the discontent of British voters, as he did in his day with Brexit.
The volatility of voters makes future predictions difficult, but what is clear is the terrible wear and tear that governing any country entails today. Just look at the closest Western political leaders, from Friedrich Merz to Giorgia Meloni, including Sánchez, to see how difficult it is for them to achieve even a simple passing grade in the polls.
