For a man whose first speech to the new parliament expressed disdain for “the politics of performance”, Sir Keir Starmer is putting on quite the show. His first 10 days at Number 10 have been choreographed to relentlessly convey the impression that the fresh-minted prime minister and his team have arrived in office not with a whimper, but a bang.
Downing Street released footage of Sir Keir taking the customary congratulatory call from the White House: “Mr Prime Minister, congratulations! What a hell of a victory!” Hail to the chief. The cameras were also invited into the cabinet room. Grinning new ministers were told, rather superfluously, that they had “a huge amount of work to do”. Then there was the shock-and-awe photo of the supreme leader with his huge cohort of Labour MPs fanned around him like peacock feathers.
