After a week of tedium, it’s become near-official: the election will not happen in May. But it will happen this year, and so we need to be prepared. I don’t mean that in the political sense, but – in a more important way – a sartorial one. We have to gird ourselves for the return of political merch, political memes, and the slow march towards the end of the political slogan tee.
Its death knell came in the form of “Sparkle with Starmer”, a limited edition and unisex £20 tee meant to encourage us to “unleash [our] inner shimmer and shine”, and released in the wake of Keir Starmer being glitter bombed by a protester during the Labour conference in October. The stage invader was a member of People Demand Democracy, a campaign group advocating for changes in the UK’s voting system, and the establishment of a “permanent citizens assembly” to replace the House of Lords. As political attacks go, I don’t think it’s exactly the sexiest one. Judging by the fact that Labour’s website is still selling the supposedly limited edition tee three months after its release, I’m not alone.
