Starmer Men and Truss Measures

Keir Starmer is reassuringly dull but also more ambitious than his critics allow. He may yet change Britain for the better.

Summer grumbles along towards its conclusion and these are soporific times for those of us in this game. Very little is happening and even less of it really matters. A dozen different pollsters regularly sample British public opinion and they cannot agree whether Labour’s lead over the Conservatives is 22 points or merely 17. Alea iacta est and all that.

While allowing for the possibility this gap may narrow there are, for now, precious few reasons for thinking it will. The public knows this too and appreciates there is no great need to be paying too much attention to politics just now. Given the events of recent years, there is something to be said for this rest period. Collectively, the British electorate is holed up in Casablanca, waiting for its exit visa and the promise of a trip to a new world.

Not, admittedly, that many people are too enthused by the prospect of Sir Keir Starmer in Downing Street. The Labour leader wants to win and recognises that anything which imperils that p…