UK Business Secretary Hints at End of Keir Starmer's Tenure

The Uncertain Future of Keir Starmer

Not another one. Brenda from Bristol must be doing her nut. After sounding on Friday like the Japanese soldier who had no idea the second world war had ended decades earlier, sometime over the weekend reality had bitten for Keir Starmer. Maybe all he needed was a bit of time at Chequers to think straight. Maybe his family had also told him the game was over. But late on Saturday, reports emerged that he was planning to announce his resignation on Monday. Tellingly, there was not even one Starmer loyalist dampening down the speculation.

Peter Kyle's Reaction

You could tell it was all over for Keir by the expression on the face of the business secretary, Peter Kyle, on both the Trevor Phillips show on Sky and Laura Kuenssberg’s on the BBC. Kyle is usually Tigger personified. The man who can be guaranteed to be upbeat on almost any occasion. The doctor who could tell you with a smiling face you were going to die in a couple of days’ time. Think of the bright side! The weather forecast is perfect for the coming week. Try to get out while you still can. If anyone could spin for Keir, it was him.

The Impact on Peter Kyle

But today was too much even for Peter. A step too far. There was no way of turning this into a good news story. There was a sadness in his face that none of us had seen before. A wistfulness. This was not a reality that could be denied. You might previously have believed there were no limits to the amount of times government ministers could humiliate themselves in front of a camera. It turns out there is quantity theory of delusion after all.

The Future of UK Politics

By the end of the summer, the UK will be on to its seventh prime minister in 10 years. There was a time when we used to make fun of the Italians for replacing their leaders every couple of years or so. Now they look like the model of stability. It is us who is the basket case. They will soon have to make more space at the Cenotaph Remembrance Sunday parade for the line of former prime ministers. Those we have loved. Those we haven’t. Those we have lost. No way of knowing if, at the going down of the sun, we will remember them. Nor is there any sign of things letting up. Who knows how many more prime ministers we will get through in the next decade.