The key to understanding Keir Starmer

Detractors have snootily nicknamed him ‘Keith’, a nasal ditherer lacking ‘rizz’, writes Robert McCrum. No surprise then that a new biography of this guarded man destined for No 10 lacks drama, but its author Tom Baldwin does reveal that if the electorate really wants to understand what makes the former lawyer tick, they need to look to the football terraces

A young Starmer pictured with his nieces and nephews (Family handout/Harper Collins)

We all know that two great armies are on manoeuvres before a decisive battle. The first salvoes have just been fired at by-election skirmishes in Kingswood and Wellingborough. Another engagement looms in Rochdale. Elsewhere, Labour has made a tactical retreat on its £28bn commitment to green investment.

Despite these successes, the press (and some voters) have been merciless: “Dithering Starmer” (The Sun); “Worst antisemitism in 40 years” (The Times); “Labour’s Worst Enemy Might be Itself” (The New York Times). Once again, Keir Starmer has come under fire for failures of leadership, while his party braces itself for action.

We’ve been here before. Labour leaders face a rough passage. When Clement Attlee was transforming post-war Britain, Westminster wits joked that “an empty taxi arrived at No 10, and Attlee got out”.