Starmer needs to call time on his boring top team

At the start of 2021, Labour and the Tories were neck and neck in the polls. Only three months later, a YouGov poll out this week has the Conservatives ten points up on Starmer’s party. This popularity dive comes at the worst possible time for Labour, with a crucial set of local elections, mayoral contests, Scottish parliament elections and the Hartlepool by-election to consider. Starmer is powerless to control some of the forces causing Labour’s slump. But there is one big thing he could do that would help: clear out the dead wood from his shadow cabinet.

Rumours about Starmer opting for a reshuffle have been so ubiquitous lately that the leader of the opposition had to openly defend his top team while on the campaign trail this week. ‘Anneliese Dodds has my confidence, she has my full confidence, she is doing a fantastic job,’ Starmer said, reminding us all of the football owner who pledges his ‘full confidence’ in the manager before unceremoniously sacking them.