Labour’s problem with the voting public stems from its lack of a clear set of policies that demonstrably separates it from the Tories (“By failing to stand with working people, Labour is taking an electorally risky stance”, Simon Fletcher, Comment). Keir Starmer has spent his time as leader “not being Boris” and if that now morphs into “not being Liz/Rishi”, then he is missing a huge opportunity. People want to know what would actually change for them under a Labour government.
My advice to Starmer is to pick four or five key themes that get to the heart of working people’s lives – cost of living, NHS/social care, housing, education, jobs – and say unequivocally what Labour would do differently. What will those areas be like after four years of Starmer as PM? Make commitments to improve specific things. Don’t promise the earth or veer off into the fringes of special interest group fantasy. People know governments can’t make everything better in one go and reject politicians who pretend they can.
