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Keir Starmer | The Reporters

Keir Starmer won power without a purpose. Now he risks squandering it | Rafael Behr

Loyalists worry that the PM displays little of the engagement and dynamism required. Five years on, neither they nor voters really know him or his plan

Upsetting backbench MPs is an occupational hazard for prime ministers. Government is an endless sequence of messy compromises. Incumbency is a drag on popularity. Poll ratings sink and nerves fray. Careers are thwarted. There are fewer ministerial jobs than ambitious candidates.

This is normal party discontentment. It grows over the course of a parliament, becoming critical at the point when rebel numbers threaten the leader’s majority. By that metric, Keir Starmer can afford to provoke a lot of dissatisfaction in the ranks. And, together with Rachel Reeves, he has.

Rafael Behr is a Guardian columnist

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