Every Prime Minister has a moment that defines them.

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Keir Starmer’s came when Zarah Sultana was dragged from the Chamber.

The clip will be replayed for years. It doesn’t flatter her, but most of all, it exposes him. Watching it happen, you could feel the change. This was the moment where his fate was officially sealed.

He won’t understand what is happening. He thinks getting to the top and staying there is about distance from blame and mastering process.

That approach can take you a long way, and some systems even reward it. In politics and in business, people can rise by saying the right things, keeping their heads down, and avoiding responsibility. Starmer chose that path.

But politics at the top becomes something else entirely. It runs on belief, conviction and showing voters the real person. That is where his problem begins.

Starmer's problem isn’t that he lies. Voters expect politicians to mislead at times and will forgive it. It’s about him not being a good liar.

There are good liars and bad liars in politics.

A good liar carries conviction and there’s an authentic energy in their delivery. Even when people doubt the words, they feel they are hearing something real. That they’re accessing what the speaker actually thinks.

A bad liar does the opposite. The words are scripted and the real person hides. Sir Keir Starmer is a bad liar.

That is what the public doesn’t like. This isn’t about a tough interview or a tricky speech, it’s about a pattern of behaviour that people hate. When he speaks, it sounds like even he doesn’t believe what he is saying.

Compare him to Donald Trump. While almost no one believes the words he says, there is no doubt about what he thinks or feels - at that moment. That access creates a kind of trust.

Starmer offers the opposite. Precision without clarity. Words without meaning.

The top job requires ownership and when things go wrong, there is nowhere to hide. The public expects you to absorb the pressure and speak plainly. He doesn’t do that.

Many politicians could recover from a position as bad as this. When the public sees a rapid and direct admission of the problem and a heartfelt apology, they can be very forgiving, given time.

But such honesty and willingness to be vulnerable isn’t an option for him. He’s unable to do it.

Dropping the script is exactly what Starmer struggles with, and that is why this will not fizzle out with time or a change in the news cycle.

The man who spent a lifetime playing the good guy while elbowing rivals and avoiding responsibility has reached the job where that no longer works.

The judgment is already clear. He’s not a leader undone by events, but one who was exposed by them. A politician who mastered the art of saying nothing, and has finally run out of road.

Andy Preston is the former Mayor of Middlesbrough.

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