Keir Starmer has had the worst first year of any Labour prime minister since 1945 – less impressive, even, than Harold Wilson in his turbulent return to power in 1974.
Starmer’s team will dismiss that judgement. But that is precisely the problem: self-denial, defensiveness and an ignorance of history – not least the history of their own party. It points also to Starmer’s ongoing inability to pick the right people to surround himself with in No 10 – people who know how to do their jobs; who know what the prime minister should do; and who understand the system.
