What makes a great Labour leader – and does Starmer have what it takes?

With the election campaign off and running, Keir Starmer will come under greater scrutiny than ever before, writes John Rentoul. But how does he compare to past Labour leaders – and will voters like what they find out?

Labour leaders: (from left) Harold Wilson, James Callahan, Tony Blair, John Smith, Keir Starmer, Clement Attlee (Getty)

If Keir Starmer wins on 4 July, he will be only the seventh Labour prime minister in the party’s history. Each of his predecessors has brought their own character to the office. Some old hands compare Starmer to Clement Attlee, an uncharismatic and undemonstrative leader with a hidden steeliness. Starmer himself has said how much he admired Harold Wilson – although I assumed that was a way of identifying with an election winner at a time when he didn’t want to go over the top in praising Tony Blair.

Starmer has shed his inhibitions in posing as the heir to Blair now. He has, perhaps, less in common with the avuncular cheerfulness of “Sunny Jim” Callaghan, or indeed with the sombre solidity of Gordon Brown.

But there is one name that is not on the list that still provokes lively debate about what makes a great Labour leader – that of John Smith, who died 30 years ago this month, the “best Labour prime minister we never had”.