For a briefing of the Keir Starmer’s 6 ‘First Steps’ click here.
Tuesday: One of our directors asked if there are any Labour Party members in the business who would be interested in attending an event on Thursday in Essex. Not much more information, other than ‘it’s big’. I sign up.
Wednesday: Rumours are flying all over “X” and the office. Clients are asking if we know who the ‘special guest’ at tomorrow’s event is? The next Tory defector? Is it Blair, May, Major?
Thursday 6:30am: I’m emailed an address in South Essex. Not famed for its fabulous transport links – one train in and out – the c2c or see you there.
8:15am: I’m walking up the steps to Platform 2, Fenchurch Street Station. Ahead of me, what looks like a couple who work in politics, holding hands, smartly dressed – think Ollie and Emma from the Thick of It – but more likely to be heading into the city at this time than out of it. I expect a few more of these types on this particular train…
What I didn’t expect in my carriage was half of the Shadow Cabinet.
After getting off and being snapped by photographers as if I’m one of them, I wonder when the wheat will be separated from the chaff, they’ll be whisked away, and I’ll end up ordering an Uber to avoid the rain.
But to my surprise, we’re all collectively shepherded onto a minibus, where even more of Labour’s top team are. I’m sat next to John Healey, Shadow Defence Secretary, who coincidentally I had arranged his post-event visit to our client, Weston Homes in Aldershot.
9:15am: Arrive at the event. I am amazed at the level of organisation. This was by far the slickest political event I’d been to: pledge cards on all of the seats with QR codes to read more, stage lighting, colourful banners outlining the steps, corresponding to placards dotted around.
10am: The show starts. The special guest? Keir Starmer.
This is his event, his face on everything, ‘his’ first steps. While he had his whole team behind him – both figuratively and literally – he was front and centre.
The Starmer we saw was slightly different to what we usually see: no tie, no podium, no script. His speech felt personal, whilst not focusing overtly on his backstory. It focused instead on the stories of individuals he had met around the country and tied those stories to the offers.
He spoke of Tom, a firefighter in Milton Keynes who could not achieve his dream of owning his own home, of a woman in Knutsford who had been on an NHS waiting list for over 18 months and a group of young women in Stoke who feared to walk in the town centre in broad daylight.
There were also speeches by the Shadow Cabinet, and other individuals, who made these points for him, most notably Nathaniel Dye, a terminal cancer patient, whose life will have been cut short due to not having his scan quickly enough. As well as this, individuals who were scared to open their front door for fear of anti-social behaviour, or to turn on the heating, for fear of energy prices.
11:30am: Things finish up – there is a united and buzzing mood in the air – and everyone begins chatting. I was particularly struck by the strength of candidates, and of their youth. For example, Chris Curtis in Milton Keynes North, Rosie Wrighting in Kettering, and Keir Cozens in Great Yarmouth – all below 30 and likely to enter Parliament – but will be doing so with an energy and perspective politics can so often lack.
The whole event came in contrast to the Conservatives’ similar pre-election pitch this week. But whilst Keir had his whole team with him, on time and on message, Sunak’s speech was overshadowed by one of his Ministers giving a speech on civil servants’ lanyards.
This felt like the first week of proper General Election campaigning, but there are many more to come and many potential pitfalls along the way.
