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Massively disagree with this. The people of London and the the people of the Hartlepool* have the same basic needs, wants, feelings, frustrations, etc..
An effective leader will find the thread that unites them, not that which divides them.
*other towns are available
deleted-
I think that's true at a local level (which is why I think Labour won't do too badly at the locals) but in terms of the big picture stories we tell ourselves about who we are and our place in the world, I genuinely can't see a thread which will unite a socially conservative home-owning rural aging population with a socially liberal renting young population. Their interests seem - to me - to be to be diametrically opposed.
ReekBlefs
Yeah I don't disagree with you on that. I try to be as fair as possible - I understand why he's trying to calm the culture war stuff, and I understand why he's not cutting through given the restrictions on party conferences / rallies, and I also understand the profoundly damaged state in which he inherited the party. These are all the reasons I try to give him the benefit of the doubt.
However I do agree with his critics that at some point he is going to need to pick a side and argue for it passionately. And there's no good choice, either he alienates the red wall or he alienates the cities. I don't think it's possible to weave a single path between the two. It's the same choice Corbyn faced and I don't want Starmer to wait too long the way Corbyn did.