{"id":83085,"date":"2025-06-14T09:14:20","date_gmt":"2025-06-14T08:14:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/?p=83085"},"modified":"2025-06-14T09:14:20","modified_gmt":"2025-06-14T08:14:20","slug":"how-did-a-man-like-starmer-become-prime-minister","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/2025\/06\/14\/how-did-a-man-like-starmer-become-prime-minister\/","title":{"rendered":"How did a man like Starmer become prime minister?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The New Statesman had a fascinating article<\/a> on Keir Starmer this week. The key paragraph, as far as I was concerned, was this:<\/p>\n

Politics is not a consuming passion. He has no political hero. It is clear he still finds Westminster mildly distasteful. He doesn\u2019t stop on the stairs of No 10 to look at any of his predecessors pictured descending from the first-floor landing. \u201cWith Gordon Brown the thing he cares about is politics above all else,\u201d one aide explains, suggesting that politics is not the key to unlocking Starmer. \u201cGordon will ask about your family, but his brain wants to get on to politics. Keir is the opposite. If you\u2019re stuck in a lift with him, you\u2019re talking about your family.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The overarching theme of the whole article was, in fact, that Keir Starmer really does not know why he is Prime Minister, or what motivates him, or what he wants to achieve. He is just where he is, doing what he thought he might do next to make his CV look good, and finding, to his apparent surprise, that for the first time in his life, he is both out of his depth and that his efforts are neither good enough nor appreciated.<\/p>\n

The real question is, how did we end up with a man so unsure of himself, so bland, and so lacking in conviction as the prime minister of this country?<\/p>\n

Most particularly, how can someone who does not have a passion for politics above all else end up in that position?<\/p>\n

Like it or not, I appreciate that after a week away, when I spent a lot of time thinking about politics and how I might best communicate my ideas around the subject, I am possessed of that passion, and yet Keir Starmer is not.<\/p>\n

I do not find my own passion troubling. It is who I am.<\/p>\n

That said, in the same way, it is apparent that Keir Starmer is not a person meant to be prime minister. He has not got the passion, conviction or understanding that the post demands. We are paying a high price for that.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The New Statesman had a fascinating article on Keir Starmer this week. The key paragraph, as far as I was concerned, was this: Politics is
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