Starmer must be bold, urges team from Labour 1997 win

Keir Starmer’s caution risks damaging his chance of winning the next election, according to key figures from Tony Blair’s 1997 campaign who say the current Labour leader is in danger of learning the wrong lessons from his predecessor’s victory

- Kiran Stacey

Some of those core to Blair’s election win have told the Guardian they believe the Labour party is not yet ready for government, and needs to set out a much clearer policy platform to win voters’ trust.

The comments come as Starmer prepares to head to Liverpool for what is likely to be the last party conference before an election and the most important of his career. Many in the party hope he will use his speech on Tuesday to define himself more clearly in voters’ minds and set out dividing lines with the Tories on issues such as completing HS2 and ending the two-child benefit cap.

Alastair Campbell , Blair’s former director of communications, said: “You want policy, and you want your policies to be known about, and you want to be able to defend them and to argue them. I sometimes worry that the Labour party today doesn’t . I don’t often get that sense of that sort of relentless, restless, obsessive attention to detail focusing on everything that you need to focus on …

“[In 1996 and 1997] we were not happy if we were not making the news and we weren’t making the weather and we weren’t actually being attacked. Because sometimes being attacked is the only way that you can get out there and make your case.”

Other senior Blairites, including Lord Falconer and David Miliband, urged the Labour leader not to shy away from promising bold economic policies in particular.