But even though the polls suggest that is the likely outcome, he's not taking anything for granted.
"We're as ever trying not to get ahead of ourselves," he gently insists when asked if he has ever been inside the grace-and-favour flat above Downing Street (he hasn't, for the record).
"People talk about the inevitable outcome. It isn't inevitable. I think there's a yearning for change. But you know what we always say, if you want change, you have to vote for it." Starmer is sitting, shirt sleeves rolled up and steaming mug of black coffee in front of him, in a meeting room at the Royal Horticultural Halls in central London ahead of a rally marking the final weekend of the campaign.
We have been promised celebrity endorsements. He is tight-lipped, but laughs when asked if it might be Taylor Swift, after he was pictured at her Eras tour show at Wembley. It turns out to be Elton John.
The table is laden with plates of cakes and piles of teacups and saucers, which rattle when he bangs his fist for emphasis. In front of him is a lined notepad, which he scribbles on when he wants to illustrate a detailed point. Starmer is a details man.
Whether it is the former lawyer in him or the senior civil servant, he is fastidious about setting out the case for what he wants to do in government. He only entered politics a decade ago, and is suspicious of some of the conventions at Westminster.
"For four and a half years people have been saying to me go faster, go slower, look over there, deal with this. The only reason we're in the position we're in is because I knew where I needed to be, and that is my lodestar." When Starmer took over as Labour leader in 2020, the party had just suffered a historic election defeat to Boris Johnson's Conservatives. He set out his plan to transform his party, take the fight to the Tories and win an election.
Denne historien er fra July 01, 2024-utgaven av The Guardian.
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Denne historien er fra July 01, 2024-utgaven av The Guardian.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Shapeless and petulant, the Ten Hag ghost ship drifts on
United are exposed again as aweak club who donot know what they want, orlack thenous to achieve what they do
Trescothick hopes England 'unscathed' by frantic schedule
Test squad heads to Pakistan today straight after ODI series, part ofa major fixture pile-up
Day of reckoning Past failures must inform transition to greener future
It is mere coincidence that the closure of the blast furnace at the Port Talbot steel works and the shutdown of Britain's last coal-fired power station at Ratcliffe-on-Soar in Nottinghamshire happened on the same day.
Shop prices falling at fastest rate in three years
Prices in UK shops are falling at the fastest rate since 2021 despite a step up in fresh-food inflation as the wet weather hit UK production while the cost of olive oil and sugary snacks continues to be affected by the climate crisis.
REA gives up on Rightmove after fourth bid is rejected
The Rupert Murdoch-backed real estate company REA Group has abandoned its attempt to take over the website Rightmove after its fourth offer was rebuffed yesterday.
'Europe's first dead river' Ukraine blames Russia as toxic slick causes disaster
Serhiy Kraskov picked up a twig and poked a small fish floating in the Desna River.
Harris's economic policies more popular with voters than Trump's, polling finds
Kamala Harris's economic policies proved far more popular than Donald Trump's plans in a blind test of their proposals.
Parties plan post-election talks as Austria begins 'alarming new chapter'
Austria's main parties are preparing for tense wrangling to form a government amid warnings about the country's democracy, after the far right's victory in a general election in which angry voters punished centrist incumbents over migration and inflation.
Dartmoor repopulated with pine martens for first time in 150 years
Fifteen pine martens are darting through the woods of Dartmoor for the first time in 150 years after the reintroduction of the rare species into south-west England.
'Perpetual cruise' passengers stranded in Belfast for months due to finally set sail
More than 100 passengers were poised last night to finally leave Belfast on a three-year round-theworld \"perpetual cruise\" after being marooned months in the city.
