UK election latest: Keir Starmer criticises ‘mess’ left by Tories and says he is ‘anxious about change’

Our Political Correspondent Rob Powell listened to Sir Keir Starmer’s first press conference as Prime Minister.

He claims that from what he heard, “this was not a politician trying to sell his own brand or party.

“He wasn’t a politician who wanted to cause a sensation or generate publicity.

“This wasn’t a politician trying to use flowery language or lofty rhetoric.

“This was Keir Starmer, the public administrator. Keir Starmer, in charge of the levers of power, methodically outlining what he had been doing since he came into office, and then methodically outlining what he wanted to do and what he would practically do.”

The trips to four UK nations and the subsequent visit to Nato show that Sir Keir wants to “get straight down to business, meeting the people he will work with to achieve his goals”.

On policy, Rob said there had been some suggestion that tax increases or spending cuts might be necessary and “in those first hundred days we might get something that maybe wasn’t outlined earlier in the campaign and the manifesto, but that addresses some of the real issues we’re grappling with at the moment.”

Rob believes his overall conclusion is that the press conference showed what kind of man Prime Minister Sir Keir could be.

He claims that he is not a person who “wants to shine,” but rather “someone who wants to methodically solve problems.”

But Rob warns that Sir Keir will need to engage his party and the public, which may require “flowery language” and “rhetoric” to win people over.

“But then again, when you have a majority the size of Keir Starmer, maybe he feels he doesn’t have to be a salesman any more,” Rob concludes.