Starmer fails the Gogglebox test

There will be cheers in Labour HQ today as an Opinium poll has given Labour its first poll lead since Boris Johnson became Prime Minister. In some quarters this has been heralded as a party conference boost – even if the whole event was online this year. Starmer used that conference speech to claim Labour is becoming a ‘competent, credible opposition’.

Yet while there are some signs the message is landing, not everyone is convinced by Sir Keir. Starmer failed the Friday night Gogglebox test – being given the thumbs down by the Channel 4 show’s cast for offering no little alternative to the government’s Covid policies, and then criticising after the storm:

Reviewing Starmer’s performance on the Andrew Marr show, Manchester’s Malone family and Blackpool’s Pete and Sophie called on the Labour leader to outline ‘what you would do’ instead of constant hindsight. Sophie went one step further, advising Boris Johnson to call Sir Keir ‘Bruce Foresight,’ rather than the PM’s favoured ‘Captain Hindsight’.