Keir Starmer came onto the Labour conference stage like a political prize fighter. All the usual equivocation and managerialism was gone, replaced by the kind of physical composure which comes with clarity of purpose.

Then, he started speaking . We haven’t heard him speak like this for a long time.

Back when Starmer won the election, he articulated clearly what this Government was for. It would work for unity, not try to exploit division. It would demonstrate responsibility and competence. And by doing so it would eliminate the “snake oil” of populism.

Somewhere along the line, that message got lost. Perhaps the election of Donald Trump changed the mood. Maybe chief of staff Morgan McSweeney killed it. Or possibly Starmer just had a crisis of confidence.

For months, there was a

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