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In recent years there has been a sharp political shift to the “hard right” of politics, with nearly a quarter of voters in Europe backing far-right parties. This modern-day right-wing movement has focused less on taxes and privatisation and more on race, nationalism and what it means to be British or European. This can be seen in the rise of anti-migrant vigilante groups with there now being 28 in the UK.
This shift to the right did not just happen to the traditional and new right-wing parties such as the Tories, Reform or the German AFD party, it also caused the dulling and shift to the centre of leftwing parties, mainly the British Labour party. The most obvious example of this is the difference between the Jeremy Corbyn era Labour Party (2015-2020) and the Kier Starmer era Labour Party (2020-2026). While Corbyn proposed a substantially more left-wing manifesto, with key areas such as water, railways and energy being bought into public ownership, Starmer’s time as leader was headlined by an aim to appease an increasingly right-wing voter base.
This global shift to the right felt to me, like it had affected everyone and everywhere. However, over the last year, beginning around late 2025, there seems to have been a slight shift. One specific event highlighting this would be the New York Mayoral election, which showed the democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani gaining lots of traction for his views on higher taxes for corporations and millionaires, rent freezes and government owned grocery stores. These views alongside his outspokenness on topics such as the Israel-Palestine conflict made him a revered figure in left wing politics, with him at around 55% favourability after 100 days as mayor.
However, recently Mamdani has been under lots of scrutiny from the same people on the left who praised and voted for him. Most of this is due to his appearance at an October 7th memorial for the Israelis who died during a Hamas attack on southern Israel. Mamdani’s appearance caused controversy on both sides as he has made several comments condemning both the genocide in Gaza, and Benjamin Netanyahu. While Mamdani has continued to condemn the state of Israel, he has been labelled as a “Traitor” by Pro-Palestinian and left-wing activists. This loss of support from left wing groups has made me question whether Mamdani truly supports Left-Wing causes or, if he used those views as a platform to gain traction and popularity in a time where politics is more polarising than ever.
Another example, that made me question the intentions of politicians on the left, is the UK’s new prime minster Andy Burnham. Andy Burnham and Labour just had their conference from the 27th to 30th September which has since sparked a lot of conversation over British left-wing politics. Some of the things proposed here were reversing the privatisation of water and a reversal on Margaret Thatcher’s ban on public ownership over water. These ideas, while not radically socialist, are a step towards the left from Kier Starmer’s shift right over the past couple years.
While I welcome any shift left in politics, this sudden change after years of Labour taking a backbench to Green, who have become the de facto “left wing” party, makes me wonder why it’s happened. Is it truly because these politicians are themselves on the left and care about those ideals? Or is it due to pressure from individuals like Zack Polanski that Andy Burnham and the Labour Party are taking a more left-wing stance?
Looking at both factors paints an interesting picture on this debate. Andy Burnham’s main role before becoming PM was being the Mayor of Greater Manchester, a role in which he oversaw bringing busses under public control and social rent housing in Manchester increased from 76 completions in 2017-18 to 633 in 2024-25. Alongside this clear career of left-wing ideas, pressure from other parties has clearly had an impact too. In the Gorton and Denton by-election in February 2026, the Green party overturned Labours majority, showing that without clear progress and ideas, other left-wing parties could overtake them.
All of this culminates in the original question, are these politicians genuinely for left wing progress?
I think yes. I do not see how genuine progress like what we are seeing now should be criticised in any way, and I do not believe these politicians are formulating whole careers based entirely on a platform of lying and shifting to gain votes.
Image: Prime Minister Andy Burnham arrives at 10 Downing Street, Lauren Hurley, 2026// CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
Edited by Abigail Thomas
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