Starmer Will Keep Fighting, Like His Football Team

Keir Starmer knows a thing or two about throwing away a lead. Let us remember the full extent of his thumping general election victory back in 2024: a majority just short of Tony Blair’s; the worst Tory defeat in centuries; Scotland’s nationalists wiped from much of the electoral map; and even positive approval ratings for his incoming Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Labour was on top of the world but took only weeks to fall from this peak. Rachel Reeves dulled the economy with a shadow of looming tax hikes, while the emergence of mid-summer riots tested Starmer’s image as a rigorous and reliable former chief prosecutor. The leadership’s approval ratings sank deep into the red, worsened by newspaper stories about Starmer accepting thousands of pounds’ worth of free tickets to events including football matches.