Final act / The tragedy of Keir Starmer |
For someone who likes to present the general public with the idea that he doesn’t have a personality, Sir Keir ‘I don’t dream’ Starmer has actually provided plenty of insight into who he really is. From his occasional flashes of fury when thwarted in the Commons to his chronic lack of authenticity when out bothering voters, a picture emerges of a man who doesn’t much like the ‘people’ side of politics. Perhaps the most revealing example was when, in opposition, he unhesitatingly told Emily Maitlis that he preferred Davos over Westminster. By his own revealed preferences and statements, Starmer is an aspirant technocrat, not an enthusiastic democrat.
In the source of his success, Sir Keir has sown the seeds of his own demise
This preference partly explains the Prime Minister’s success. For all his failings, Jeremy Corbyn was a man of the Labour party’s wider membership. Starmer achieved success internally by putting distance between his style and that of his predecessor. Ditto, as Tory governments ran into trouble, so Starmer repeatedly crowed about his comparative suitability for the role of PM. However, like a character in an ancient tragedy, it seems that in the source of his success, Sir Keir has sown the seeds of his own demise.
As we begin a year in which his premiership looks more likely than ever to shuffle into oblivion, it’s worth considering how we got here. The PM has tried to govern on his default setting,........