To fulfil his destiny as the ‘heir to Blair’, Keir Starmer must discover a radical edge

Editorial: In ditching out-of-date policies that no longer serve his cause, the Labour leader has demonstrated a pragmatism that helped his predecessor win three elections. Now we must hope he will grow in office into a less cautious and more charismatic figure

16 May 2024 (Dave Brown)

Heir to Blair” is a title to which many politicians have laid claim, not always with conspicuous success; but even if it is unspoken, it is clear that Sir Keir Starmer is making a rather more credible attempt to emulate Sir Tony Blair’s achievements than most of the imitators down the years.

Sir Keir’s latest staging post in what he hopes will be a decade of power is some key pledges for the initial stages of that administration – six “missions” and five “first steps”, all of them, no doubt, forged in the white-hot crucible of the marginal-seat focus group. They are fairly familiar to anyone paying much attention, and all are to be put on a New Labour-style pledge card.

They are unexceptionable, if not laudable – just like the ones in the Blair era. Few voters will want to quibble with shorter NHS waiting lists, recruiting 6,500 teachers, and more neighbourhood police officers to deal with anti-social behaviour. The two new bodies to be set up almost immediately after a Labour election win – Great British Energy and the Border Security Command – may well do some good, and certainly not any harm.