Why does Keir Starmer, an affable, intelligent professional with a sense of ambition and grit strong enough to carry him through the Labour leadership civil wars to the top, still not connect with the public? There have been nearly as many “(re)introduce Starmer to the public” restarts as there have been U-turns on policy.

Each one makes a stuttering start: the poignant retelling of a genuinely difficult childhood in a family plagued by illness and low income, the claim that this bestows empathy with those struggling at the hardest end of the cost of living crisis, the conference speech flirting with the idea of calling Reform UK‘s plans under Nigel Farage racist and then splitting the difference, to say he only meant the party’s migration policy.

The raw material of Starmer is not bad at all, yet the outcome is dire – a 17 per cent rating for a government is a position from which a recovery to hold power would be miraculous. Not least when even a Conservative Party on 19 per cent has edged ahead and Reform, while losing some steam, is still comfortably ahead in the mid to high 20s. Something is not working.

While Starmer will likely have a good story to tell on falling inflation, he may find that without a growth and general optimism uplift, lowering the rate of inflation does not do the trick of bringing back momentum to his leadership. Also, cost of living woes are fundamentally about the country not earning enough to keep up with the........

© iNews