What the razzmatazz and promises tell you about Labour

 

What the razzmatazz and promises tell you about Labour

In Purfleet on Thursday Sir Keir Starmer set out what Labour would do first if it won the next general election

Labour is leaving absolutely nothing to chance.

With four consecutive general election defeats tattooed across its psychology, it is a party now burning with a determination to do what history tells us it manages vastly less often than the Conservatives: win.

It means every aspect of its approach is worth scrutiny because so many elements of it have been given considerable thought.

The event to set out their key messages for the coming months - the bridge, they hope, from the local election results until the general election is actually called - was remarkable in and of itself.

Literally remarkable, because it had a scale, an ambition and likely a budget normally associated with a party conference or the moment an election campaign is formally beginning.

It felt like the launch of a campaign for a general election in the summer, which is now widely expected in the autumn.

Sir Keir Starmer has spent recent months campaigning in several by-elections and local elections in England and Wales

It was in a film studio, of all places.

There were promises, pamphlets, pledges and no shortage of probably pricey razzmatazz.

At the centre of it, near presidential in style, Sir Keir Starmer.

His jacket and tie were nowhere to be seen nor were the buttons on his cuff, his sleeves rolled up to just below his elbow.

This might sound superficial, even trivial, but this sort of stuff doesn’t happen by accident.

They don’t regard it as superficial or trivial, or they wouldn’t do it. So neither should we.

Sir Keir did not leave half his clothes on the train by mistake.

It is a carefully crafted image, with striking similarities to the last Labour leader to pull off what Sir Keir is attempting: actually winning.

Sir Tony Blair did the casual-look thing, tie on but top button undone.

He also had a pledge card not vastly dissimilar to the card of pledges the party is parading now.

He also had a pledge card not vastly dissimilar to the card of pledges the party is parading now.

"My First Steps" they are called - note the possessive - next to a picture of Sir Keir.

As for what he was and wasn’t wearing, the Labour leader told me: "This is about doing politics in a different way. It's about trying to get across the sort of leader I am, of my mindset and who I've got in my mind's eye when I make decisions."

He added: "I have to lead from the front, I've led various organisations. You always have to lead from the front. Be clear about what you're trying to achieve, about how you're going to get there."

His shadow cabinet colleague Steve Reed, a guest on the BBC’s Newscast, told me his boss was “looking very workmanlike".

"That is what he is like," Reed said. "I think there is an authenticity in how he came across. I have known the guy for a long time. That is how he comes across when you speak to him.”