The bromance that could help Labour win a landslide

A growing friendship across party lines has given Starmer the confidence to stand up to the hard left

- Andrew Grice

The Conservatives are throwing everything they can muster at Labour but, to Rishi Sunak’s frustration, the opinion poll needle is stuck on a 20-point lead for Keir Starmer’s party. Even the Tories’ greatest election hits on tax and spending are not working. When they ran a scare story that Labour would raise VAT, Rachel Reeves shot down this flyer within minutes.

The irony of this campaign is that Labour’s wounds have been inflicted not by the Tory enemy but by its woeful mishandling of whether the veteran left-winger Diane Abbott should be a Labour candidate. For months, the word in Labour land was that Abbott, suspended for antisemitic remarks for which she apologised, would regain the party whip, but would retire and be allowed to make the gracious exit from the Commons she deserved.

It seemed the deal was on – until overzealous Starmer aides briefed The Times that Abbott would be barred from standing as a Labour candidate, presumably to make Starmer look strong in facing down the left (again). Even some Starmer loyalists admit the briefing was “unhelpful” – politicians’ code for disastrous. Team Starmer insists that he doesn’t get directly involved in internal party matters and leaves issues such as parliamentary selections to trusted aides. If he trusts you, he trusts you a lot. Sometimes, it seems, too much.