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When the story of Keir Starmer’s resurrection of the Labor Party is written, one of the most important turning points will be the decision to start playing the man rather than the ball when it comes to Boris Johnson and Partygate.
Rishi Sunak’s main weakness in the leader debates this election is his career as a hedge fund partner during the financial crisis. Labor believes the prime minister’s account of his past will be a fundamental test, given that he has built his reputation on economic competence.
The policy battle lines have already been drawn for Tuesday’s debate, with both sides building their defenses as well as preparing their attacks. The Conservatives will want to focus on gender, defense spending and pensions – all areas where Labor has been challenged to deliver on its commitments and failed to do so. Over the weekend, Labor worked on other key sticking points – on reducing net migration and on a commitment to the UK’s nuclear deterrent.
But both sides are now ready for things to start getting personal. Sunak prepares for a debate with Oliver Dowden. The Deputy Prime Minister has been asked to play Starmer and Tory aides will be in a mock audience asking hostile questions. Sunak believes the debates are key to changing the narrative and that audiences will be watching for signs of the underdog’s return.
Labor knows it will lose the debate and wants to keep its numbers to a minimum by rejecting Tory challenges to hold up to six head-to-head debates. In the run-up to the debate, Tom Webb, Labour’s political director, is standing in for Sunak, continuing in the role he played in the build-up to PMQs. Starmer will appear at a public event on Monday, but will then turn his full focus to preparation.
Over the past few months, Starmer’s team has deliberately chosen events that involve questions and answers with groups of workers, with an eye to preparing him for debate. “We know people are quite wary of asking tough questions of their bosses, but there have been a few and it’s good practice,” said a Labor source. “But we’re definitely not drafted in all Labor councillors.”
Another added: “The debate is going to be a big moment. This is the first time many voters will see Keir and Sunak go head-to-head, as they will only be paying attention to politics since the election was called. But we feel confident. Keir is good at these things and well prepared.
Domestically, Labor also has a crucial week. On Tuesday, the national executive committee will meet to give final approval to all candidates for election, the critical point for any final appeals or resignations, but now largely seen as a formality.
While Starmer is focused on preparing for the debate until Tuesday, the leader’s attention will then turn to the manifesto. Labor will hold its central meeting on Friday “Clause V” meeting.where its most influential figures will review the manifesto line by line and clarify any outstanding differences.
Among those attending will be the shadow cabinet, MPs from the Labor Parliamentary Committee, Scottish Labor leader Annas Sarwar, Welsh First Minister Vaughan Goetting and 11 general secretaries of trade unions.
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The “Clause V” meeting is also designed to raise issues not in the manifesto – and to reach broad agreement on any outstanding issues, which is particularly important as the party prepares to enter government.
Labor insiders say it will be a scaled back and tightly targeted proposal – no major new spending proposal as a manifesto surprise. In that an extremely cautious operationone of the best ways to avoid the traps is to avoid having rabbits.
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