Sir Keir Starmer’s lost year as Labour leader – The Yorkshire Post says

Yet, as Sir Keir’s leadership comes under serious scrutiny just 10 months after he succeeded Jeremy Corbyn, he does now need to be setting out a future vision – and then, in time, costed policies – akin to the example once set by the renowned municipal leader Joseph Chamberlain.

One of this country’s first great mayors, it was Mr Chamberlain who coined the timeless phrase that we live in “interesting times” – words as relevant now as they were in the latest 19th century.

Britain remains in the grip of a pandemic. Families are anxious. They desire trustworthy leadership. They want new ideas that bring about societal change. And they recognise the importance, in a democracy, of constructive opposition, as distinct from opportunism.

But herein lies the rub. For, while most prefer Sir Keir to Mr Corbyn and his ‘fantasy’ manifesto of 2019, he’s still to cut through in those critical ‘red wall’ seats across the North that Labour took for granted for decades before they fell to the Tories in December 2019.

And even though Jake Berry, the former Northern Powerhouse Minister, went on the record this week to accuse his own government of not having a plan for this region, the same charge can equally be levelled against Sir Keir and his inner circle based on their own ‘red wall’ performance to date.

Yes, the Opposition front bench is now more agile, but the fact that some of Sir Keir’s own supporters are frustrated by the absence of a policy prospectus for post-pandemic Britain is symptomatic of a wider dilemma – just how can the electorate be won over when the party is doubting itself to this extent?

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