Hey 2021.

Big lesson I learnt in 2020, for me & @UKLabour:

Politics is about connecting to the widest public, ONLINE & OFFLINE ALIKE. In particular, people you are meant to represent. Only in this way can you devise a winning set of policies & be seen as a serious force.

Politics is also, and certainly inevitably, a GAME. It is a game of statecraft, of public impression, and of decisive leadership.

In the previous year, I went from being a big fan of new left media to becoming respectful of Tony Blair, Lord Mandelson and the vast majority of Labour MPs.

Why? I am actually ashamed of explaining the plainest answer - Labour is a serious political party, not a pressure group.

Of course I appreciate the brilliant grassroots media like Novara & DDN; they offer refreshing ideas and challenge establishment newspapers owned by billionaires. But the very problem with the radical left is that their ideas are often too new for the public to digest.

And I respect Jeremy Corbyn and his lifelong contribution to all the good causes he has held dear. Yet Corbyn is NOT BUILT TO BE A POLITICAL LEADER. He is too kind to be decisive and play the necessary game of statecraft. Tony Blair, on the contrary, managed precisely that.

That is why Sir Keir is the right choice for Labour after 2019, the biggest & bitterest lesson to learn. His style of politics will do a much better job in connecting with the whole country, cities & towns alike, Twitter users & non-Tweeters alike.

Labour cannot refuse to move on. It is not founded to idolise a certain politician, and it is not about how left-wing you are. And I shall finish by referring to @blairite53: being a 'Blairite' stems from a genuine wish to win office & change the society for the better.