Two summers ago, when the Conservatives had just defenestrated Boris Johnson and were rallying around Liz Truss as his successor, there was little prospect of Britain reaching the autumn of 2024 as a beacon of political stability. Yet here we are. Or rather, there stands Keir Starmer, in command of a vast parliamentary majority, unthreatened by a debilitated opposition, the envy of his European peers.
France elected a new national assembly three days after British voters sent Starmer to Downing Street but the result was so messy that President Macron still hasn’t managed to convene a permanent government. The German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, looked drained of authority even before regional elections last weekend humiliated his Social Democratic party and its coalition partners. The far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) topped the ballot in one eastern state, Thuringia, and came a close second in neighbouring Saxony.
