Who is Keir Starmer? I mean, who is he really? A year of more into office, propelled into Downing Street with an enormous 170-seat Commons majority, our chameleon PM remains elusive. Unknowable.
His father was a toolmaker, apparently. But what does he want? Whose side is he on? Are there particular passions that drive him? What is he for?
Our Prime Minister: the walking paradox.
The human rights lawyer who wants to die on a hill over compulsory identity cards. The north London liberal who has gutted the overseas aid budget. The barrister – a King’s Counsel no less – who can only manage faltering performances in the House of Commons.
The man who told us Britian had become a ‘nation of strangers’ because of excessive immigration, only to disown his remarks weeks later. The election winner with personal ratings that are now through the floor (who, in any case, managed to win half a million votes fewer than Jeremy Corbyn did in 2019).
While his army of restless and underworked backbenchers are now plotting against the man responsible for putting them on the green leather benches in the first place.
Governing is hard, it turns out.
Yet Starmer could have made things easier on himself. For a start, the government’s communications have been shambolic – not helped by the general absence of political strategy since entering Downing Street and a revolving door of often sup-par backroom staff.
And who would have thought a PM with a 170-majority would struggle to get tricky proposals through parliament? But he’s managed it with the fiasco over the proposed welfare cuts – which are set to cost more!
