𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Keir Starmer says he doesn’t want to repeat the mistakes of the last Conservative government, when numerous changes of leader plunged the country into chaos and shattered faith in the Tories. But he’s doing the opposite of what he claims. His speech this week made it clear that all we can expect from Labour is the same duplicitous plotting and speculation that voters came to hate.

The beneficiaries will be Nigel Farage and Reform UK – and possibly the Greens. Because Sir Keir is adding to a sense that politics is broken and the traditional parties just can’t be trusted with power any more. We all remember the numerous leadership battles under the Tories. David Cameron was replaced by Theresa May, who was replaced by Boris Johnson. Then Boris was forced out and replaced by Liz Truss, before she was replaced by Rishi Sunak.

Sir Keir said this week: “I take responsibility for not walking away – not plunging our country into chaos, as the Tories did time and again. Chaos that did lasting damage to this country.”

He’s right to say that voters hate this nonsense. But what he doesn’t understand – or perhaps is just choosing not to see – is that Labour will go through the same sort of turmoil as long as he remains in Number 10.

We’ll have the plots, the rumours and the speculation until he stands down. He won’t be able to make any big decisions, and all voters will hear about is leadership speculation. The Government will have no chance to explain how it plans to fix the economy, increase wages or control immigration.

Sir Keir wants to be different to the Tories, but in fact he’s giving us a re-run of the last days of Boris – or the doomed premiership of Liz Truss, when she attempted in vain to hold on to power while her own colleagues grew increasingly hostile.

There’s only one solution, but it’s not one the Prime Minister wants to hear.

He needs to go. Labour’s only chance is to find a new leader that the party’s MPs have confidence in. They need someone capable of coming up with a plan to make our lives better, and explaining it to the nation.

It’s unclear whether any such person exists. Could Wes Streeting be a good PM? Or Andy Burnham, or Angela Rayner? It’s hard to know. But what we do know for certain is that Sir Keir cannot do the job.

His MPs know it – and they want him gone. The plotting won’t end until he leaves Number 10. And the longer he clings on, the more voters will be reminded of everything they grew to hate about the last Conservative government.

The real danger for Labour is that voters lose faith not just in Sir Keir but in the Labour Party entirely. The Tories know just how that feels, even though their current leader, Kemi Badenoch, is doing her best to restore their reputation.

Sir Keir’s own political career is over, even though he doesn’t seem to know it. The longer it takes him to accept reality, the more damage he will do to Labour.