The first few days of a totally new government are disorientating. Nobody knows quite how to react. The electoral dust is still settling. We are still in the process of recalibrating well-worn reflexes: rolling your eyes and tutting about Jeremy Hunt and David Cameron is no longer a thing, for they are no longer things. What do all the people on social media who ranted endlessly about ‘getting the Tories out’ do now, with their mission accomplished? When Carol Vorderman wakes up in the morning now, what is her first thought, her catalyst for the day?
It’s rather like a new series of Big Brother – a bewildering array of fresh faces in a familiar setting. It takes a little while for their foibles and synergies to reveal themselves. Where Labour is concerned, many of the newbies in the cabinet are not just unfamiliar but unknown – who the hell are Ian Murray and Jonathan Reynolds?
These are the sensible people, are they?
But one thing is already clear, exemplified by Keir Starmer’s victory speech in Downing Street and his first press conference as Prime Minister.
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