Sir Keir Starmer recently surprised some colleagues by telling them that he regards the time he has spent in parliament since he became a Labour MP as “the most futile nine years of my career”. That is one of his frequent expressions of frustration about being in opposition, even when leading it with a whopping advantage in the opinion polls. He expects it to be infinitely more fulfilling to be doing stuff as prime minister. The rest of the shadow cabinet likewise imagine that possessing power has to be a lot more satisfying than merely fighting for it.
I say imagine because very few of them have any first-hand knowledge of what it is like to lead a department, manage multibillion pound budgets, draft legislation and persuade parliament to pass it, plan and deliver programmes while fire-fighting crises that flare up out of nowhere and managing the expectations of stakeholders, the media and public opinion. “Many of Keir’s team don’t have any idea what will hit them,” remarks one veteran of past Labour governments.
