As Labour heads for a wipeout, a lesson: never fall for the 'adults in the room’ line again | Aditya Chakrabortty

Presenting himself as a serious, sensible ‘grownup’ was essential to Starmer’s rise to power. His premiership has revealed how hollow that message is

Some big questions will be asked this weekend – about how Labour fell so far so fast, about when Keir Starmer goes and who takes his place – but at least one big thing will be clear: never entrust your country to people who keep insisting they’re grown up.

Think back to 2024 and the birth of Starmer’s government. “The adults are back in the room,” exulted Darren Jones as Labour went marching into Downing Street. Having chopped the party’s largest pledges into little pieces (Goodbye, Green New Deal! Farewell, securonomics!), the single greatest qualification Starmer, Jones and co had for office was not policy, but vibes. After a decade of blue-on-blue fighting and a string of gap-year prime ministers, all the reds had to be was serious, sensible, businesslike. Labour would own the mien of production.

Aditya Chakrabortty is a Guardian columnist

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