Elon Musk’s attacks are an opportunity for Keir Starmer

‘Can I just say, he’s a t***.’ The taxi driver leans backwards and interjects into our conversation about one of Elon Musk’s latest forays into UK politics. Musk, he makes short shrift of explaining, should keep his beak out. 

We’ve just arrived in a North-East coastal town, where we will be spending the next few days conducting dozens of in-depth interviews with locals to find out what they think about a range of topics. None of these are pre-arranged as we find it useful to speak to people in their natural environments: the pub, local coffee shop or workplace etc. What we found on this trip is an unexpected opportunity for Keir Starmer.

We weren’t there to ask people what they thought of Musk, but he kept on coming up. He’s definitely cut through.

Stepping into a shop to escape the freezing temperatures, a man is asked to consider how the government is doing, but he quickly pivots to Musk: ‘He should mind his own business shouldn’t he?’ Again and again, we heard the same thing; another was red-faced as he explained, ‘If we started going after American politicians there would be uproar.