In recent British political history, there have rarely been more favourable conditions for the opposition to advance. Boris Johnson’s government has presided over a farcical array of scandals, including serial law- breaking in Downing Street. Inflation has reached its highest rate for 30 years (7 per cent) and households are facing the biggest squeeze in living standards since records began. Finally, as the Queen’s Speech amply demonstrated, Mr Johnson’s administration is devoid of anything resembling new ideas.
Yet it is Keir Starmer’s Labour that is now struggling. On 9 May, having devoted much time to demanding Mr Johnson’s resignation, Mr Starmer was forced to contemplate his own. If fined by Durham police for his alleged breach of lockdown rules, he said, he would “do the right thing and step down”.
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