What should Sunak and Starmer do about the ghosts of leadership past?

On the left, Starmer has decided not to take any prisoners, writes Marie Le Conte. Sunak, on the other hand, is clearly hesitant to do anything drastic

It is clear that Corbyn will not go quietly. Well, neither will Johnson (AFP/Getty)

It is, in hindsight, striking how much Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn have in common. They were both eccentric politicians who were never obvious leaders. They were both adored by the membership but treated with suspicion by large portions of their parliamentary parties.

They both led their parties through tumultuous times, blighted by vicious infighting. In the end, they fell because both voters and their own MPs had had enough. At time of writing, their successors are both men who were in senior positions on their front benches, and with whom each, respectively, had a somewhat complex relationship. Oh, and neither of them will shut up.

On Sunday, it was revealed that Johnson had urged Rishi Sunak not to drop the Northern Ireland protocol. He was also accused of encouraging the DUP to resist a compromise on the deal Sunak is attempting to negotiate.