It’s a measure of how weird the past few years in British politics have been that Keir Starmer’s claim that his Labour predecessor would have made a better prime minister than Boris Johnson has received so much coverage. Starmer made the comment during last night’s Question Time programme. It was a line that got blurted out under some pressure and it was a mistake.
The public evidently did not think Corbyn would have made a better prime minister than Johnson
Starmer has initially said he had never really believed that Labour was going to win in 2019, but that he campaigned for the party. This would have held, had he not said during the campaign five years ago that Corbyn would make a ‘great’ prime minister. How do you walk back from that? You either say you were lying, or that you believed your own improbable assertion. The public thinks that politicians are all liars anyway, but admitting to being so is very much taboo.
Get Britain's best politics newsletters
Register to get The Spectator's insight and opinion straight to your inbox. You can then read two free articles each week.
Already a subscriber? Log in
Comments
Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just $5 for 3 monthsAlready a subscriber? Log in