Social distancing has drained the life out of politics

Even with parliament in recess, the summer would usually be a busy time in politics, full of crowds and bustle and gossip, writes John Rentoul

MPs observe social distancing at the House of Commons (Reuters)

Politics has become even more anaemic in August. I quite liked the socially distanced parliament, with about as many MPs in the chamber for Prime Minister’s Questions as you would normally get for a debate on a private member’s bill to ban low letterboxes. In theory it should have allowed a more considered form of debate, although in practice it was basically the same point-scoring without the wall of noise.

With parliament in recess, it would now be time for lots of earnest conferences, seminars and events. We journalists might even be following Ed Davey and Layla Moran around the country as they spoke to small but enthusiastic groups of supporters in the Liberal Democrats’ leadership election campaign.

As the sun shone and people queued, unevenly spaced, outside shops, I remembered hot summer leadership elections of the past. Tony Blair became leader in the summer of 1994, a blur of meetings, small crowds, travelling and speeches. Jeremy Corbyn became leader in the summer of 2015, a campaign that snowballed from lacklustre debates with lacklustre candidates to huge and enthusiastic crowds drawn by the hope of something different.

In normal times, Keir Starmer would today be trying to make an impression as new leader of the opposition by going “up and down the country” (one of the favourite phrases of his predecessor and mentor, Ed Miliband) pretending to listen to people but actually to broadcast the message: “Labour is under new management.”

Instead he is reduced to holding Zoom events with groups of Labour activists from different parts of the country, although they might as well be from Colorado because you can have a video meeting with anyone in the world.

Of course, politics goes on. But it is a dry and bloodless business without crowds. There are still a few journalists around Westminster, and even fewer politicians and advisers. One of the unusual sights in parliament these days is “socially distanced gossiping”, as people chat in twos and threes leaving space between them.

Parliament isn’t the same without the roar of partisanship, and politics outside parliament isn’t the same without the bustle and gossip of crowds.

But anyway, I have a Zoom meeting to go to.

Yours,

John Rentoul

Chief political commentator