25-04-2025
Too many U-turns leave Keir Starmer needing an image reset
Politicians must be wary of their car test. The Labour pollster Deborah Mattinson uses this, asking focus groups what sort of car a politician would be — and it is telling. She tells the Political Currency podcast that when Gordon Brown took over as PM, he was viewed as a sturdy, reliable Volvo, while the ex-chancellor George Osborne recalls that, in their nadir under William Hague, the Tories were viewed as a three-wheeled Reliant Robin.
Things can change, though. Within three years of Brown's Volvo moment, the electorate had decided David Cameron was a BMW (smooth, posh, European) and the Labour leader was a write-off. Four years ago, Sir Keir Starmer was viewed as an old Mini, but no word as to what he is
