The Prime Minister hasn’t gone. His duties will dry up, but the engagement of a new incumbent isn’t set to kick in until a new candidate has been confirmed. As it stands, no one is yet in line to takeover the UK’s most powerful political office.
In retrospect, Sir Keir Starmer MP (Holborn and St Pancras/Labour) has a lot to be chuffed over. As a politician, he’s been successful. As a leader, he hasn’t necessarily been a total disaster. His ‘Plan For Change’ has resulted in some benefits.
At the heart of this, however, is a crisis of mismanagement at the governmental centre. These take a while to unpack, and yet eventually we’ll discover the precise reasons why it felt apart for him. Clearly, he was going to continue on.
His response to the small boats crisis has been professional. Ministers have moved about to deal with bits and pieces of it. Their offices have engaged on a matter beyond most people’s capability. It stands to reason it’s his real achievement. The rest lacks in actual statecraft.