The fundamentals haven't changed since his earlier period of popularity. Starmer is 'prime ministerial' in a way the last two Lab leaders were not, in accomplishment and appearance (which matters!). He can plainly 'do the job', the lowest bar to clear.
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We should be very wary about making confident judgements on how voters feel about him based on the last year. Nobody has ever been opposition leader during a pandemic! There are no comparisons to draw on.
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It's an impossible job: 'oppose' too much and you seem like you're carping during a national crisis, don't oppose and you look weak or just invisible.
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Not only that but it shouldn't be under-estimated how hard it is to build a new team, run a new shadow cabinet, run a party when you have to do nearly everything over Zoom. Again - unprecedented.
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Not only is it harder to build relationships/alliances - so vital in opposition - but it's incredibly draining. You don't get the returns of energy and adrenalin from meeting real people, speaking to rooms not cameras.
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No question he screwed up badly over Rayner. Suspect that was to do with exhaustion and consequently not being able to think straight. Most worrying thing is he panicked. Good leaders don't panic.
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Also true that he other made bad tactical mistakes like the H'pool candidate selection. His team can be blamed for it but he picks the team and makes the final calls.
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He came very late to politics and it shows. However one thing we've seen with Starmer is that he learns and improves. Started his role on Brexit badly, got turned over by the govt, but got much more effective.
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Seemed to be a pretty flabby performer within the party but then surprised us all with a well planned, ruthlessly executed leadership campaign.
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Already signs he knows he needs to get better at the job, Mattinson is a good appointment - so he may yet surprise us again. And the media appetite for narrative means a comeback story is waiting to happen.
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Johnson & govt popular right now for obvious reasons which obviously will pass. When they do, the lack of leadership from the top & paucity of talent in the cabinet, & all the curdled resentments that build up within the party in power, will start to tell.
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Of course there are endless think-pieces on Lab's insoluble problems but there always are. Maybe they're screwed forever. But voters' allegiances are shifting in historic ways & they may also be permanently more volatile in preferences.
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Real politics resumes in September & I think there's a fair chance that not long afterwards Starmer will start seeming like the PM-in-waiting again.
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Ah, Twitter lefties have discovered this thread and are now responding with their typical charm and intelligence...
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Amazing that the left isn’t more popular really
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That a pretty bland thread which essentially says 'there's a chance this Labour leader might get more popular' provokes so much scorn and anger from people who claim to be Labour supporters is...not healthy.
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