Has Labour Grown Up or Is This ‘Cosplay Conservatism’?

Politicians are most dangerous to their opponents when they start looking lucky. Keir Starmer is now projecting the sense of an opposition leader who is not just lucky, but is preparing to govern.

In a speech in Manchester on Thursday, Starmer sought to answer those who claim he’s been too vague about what he’ll do with power if Labour wins it. In response to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s five priorities for the year, Starmer offered five “national missions,” a framing that echoes ideas from economist Mariana Mazzucato. Compared to the recent 155-page paper on the UK’s future spearheaded by former Labour PM Gordon Brown, Starmer’s list is more carefully curated to match voter worries from crime to health care. He promises ambitions so bold they require “a sharp intake of breath.” Cue a Tory eye-roll. Commons leader Penny Mordaunt dismissed the speech as “cosplay conservatism.”