Can Keir Starmer get Labour back on track?
The Labour leader must urgently change the narrative which is in danger of being set in stone – that he is not up to the massive task ahead. But that isn’t an impossible job, writes Andrew Grice
After his bruising first encounter with the voters and a botched first reshuffle, there are growing doubts inside Labour that Keir Starmer can turn the party’s prospects around.
With all eyes on him, Sir Keir needs to put in a strong performance in the Commons on Tuesday when he responds to the Queen’s Speech. In fact, Sir Keir has done well in his recent weekly jousts with Boris Johnson at Prime Minister’s Questions. The big test for the former director of public prosecutions is not persuading the Commons judges, but the jury of public opinion.
Sir Keir needs to explain urgently what he and his party stand for, so he will launch a policy review. But when the-then Labour leader Neil Kinnock did that in the 1980s, it took two years. Sir Keir doesn’t have that much time.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies