Given the Tories’ current woes with everything from parties to ferries, surely now is the chance for the long-awaited Labour revival? Keir Starmer has been talking a good game recently but polls still show the two main parties in close contention. To aid his chances in the upcoming local elections, the Labour leader has unveiled a new slogan: ‘On your side’ – a battlecry that will echo down the ages like Ed Miliband’s ‘Better Plan for a Better Future’ and Gordon Brown’s ‘A future fair for all.’

Reading the latest PR speak from party HQ, Mr S was struck by a sudden realisation. For Keir Starmer’s latest effort appears to be the sixth separate slogan championed by the Labour leader since his election less than two years ago. He also seems to have done a ‘relaunch’ of his leadership on at least half-a-dozen occasions. This does of course beg the question: how good can a leader be if he needs a reset every four months?

Starmer was elected in April 2020, having run on the label of ‘Another future is possible.’ Shortly thereafter, he began using the slogan ‘Under new management’ from July. That was then discarded in September 2020 for the – imaginatively named – ‘A new leadership’ line instead. This too was then replaced in January 2021 for a three word chant, so beloved of politicians: ‘Secure, protect, rebuild.’ The following month that was swiftly axed; in its place was ‘A new chapter for Britain.’ ‘On your side’ is now in vogue, just a year on from the last effort.

New slogans have tended to accompany Starmer’s various ‘relaunches’ over the past two years. Media reports of such efforts include the following: the 2020 virtual conference speech, his big post-pandemic address in January 2021, his ‘policy blitz‘ in February 2021 and the post-election relaunch in May 2021 that followed a poor set of local results. There was also talk of a relaunch by PA in August 2021, the much-mocked 14,000 word ‘mission statement‘ to ‘reset’ his leadership the following month and the claim in December 2021 that after 18 months of leadership, he would set out his ‘ideas’ to ‘build a new Britain’ in 2022.

Will sixth time be the charm for Sir Keir and Labour? Given their track record, Mr S looks forward to another ‘relaunch’ in another four months’ time.