Self-help homilies seem out out of place in this era of Starmer and Trump. In fact, applied to government, they can offer new solutions for global problems
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f there is one thing that has marked the first year of Keir Starmer’s premiership, it is a propensity for control – whether it’s managing his own party, cracking down on civil liberties and protest, or instilling fear and anxiety in marginalised groups. For a centre-left party, the authoritarian strain Starmer has shown isn’t exactly in line with the “change” from the Tories that was promised.
Governments seek to control populations, politicians seek to control their parties: this is nothing new and has been explicitly promoted since Machiavelli’s The Prince was published in 1532. When leaders understand holding power as an end in itself, and see the method as controlling those they have power over, they block themselves from being able to bring about real change, because not “losing control” becomes more important than any change they seek to create. And attempting to tightly control outcomes is ill suited to an increasingly complex and unstable world.
At the same time, a different mode of control exists across the institutions that implement government policy. It is rules-based, promoted by steeply hierarchical structures fostering compliance, with rigid frameworks and inflexible mindsets, alongside a culture of overconfidence. These dynamics might seem benign or indeed necessary for a functioning bureaucracy. However, if out of balance, they can stifle the creative thinking and collaboration required to tackle complex challenges. Whether it is running consultations without the intention of deep engagement or listening, or an inability to incorporate the climate crisis into economic frameworks, by seeking to maintain control, institutions fall short of making meaningful change.
