Later, advisers to the council came up with the idea of cracking down on “eyesore gardens” which had been left to go to ruin by buy-to-let landlords. One of the people behind the initiative was Morgan McSweeney, now Starmer’s righthand man in Downing Street — though other Labour activists point out his arrival in Barking to work for the local council postdated the BNP’s heyday.
McSweeney was instrumental in formulating Labour’s election-winning strategy during the 2024 campaign, and is now focused on following through in order to put Labour in a position to win the next election.
One senior Labour politician close to No. 10, granted anonymity in order to discuss matters beyond their remit, said McSweeney was “thinking a lot about this … How to get these people arrested and banged up. And then more deeply about the politics and about the different strands behind it and what the government has to do to counter it.”
On notice
Whether the principle of clearing dilapidated front gardens can be applied on a far grander scale, and in time for the next election, which must be held within five years, remains to be seen.
A government official, also granted anonymity, pointed out that ministers have also been told more broadly to keep Labour’s “five missions” — a zoomed-out, overarching view of society in 10 years that touches on economic growth, green energy, crime reduction, equality of opportunity and an improved health service — uppermost in what they do.
But some would like to see Starmer move beyond a purely pragmatic response and speak directly to voters.
