For the next two years, the best job in British politics will be leader of the opposition. The first two years is usually the honeymoon period for an opposition party. Keir Starmer, meanwhile – if he is indeed the next prime minister – will be wrestling with an appalling bequest: a cabinet bereft of recent cabinet experience and his vague election promises of “growth”. A deft opponent would be wise to play him like a fish on a hook. Hence, several Tories have made recent final pleas to this Thursday’s electorate to vote Conservative so the incoming government has at least some viable opposition.
Once the new government is formed, parliamentary opposition will be about winning arguments in debate, not voting strength. If polls are correct, the Tories will be suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder come the end of next week. With some polls projecting the Tories will claim just 115 seats, scrutiny of the government is nearly as likely to come from the Liberal Democrats, Scottish Nationalists, Greens or even Reform UK, projected to take a smaller, but sizeable chunk of votes, due to their gift of being parties not tainted by the Tories’ record of the past 14 years.
