Starmer has tried to wrap himself in the flag and embrace the U.K.’s armed forces — and in doing so, draw a sharp contrast with the leadership of his predecessor, the socialist, NATO-sceptic Jeremy Corbyn.
Starmer certainly looks the part. Square jaw, quaffed hair, pressed suit, stern stare. Squint a bit and you can imagine him inspecting the troops on a British aircraft carrier.
One shadow Cabinet minister said Starmer, if he won the general election on July 4, was likely to go big on defense to plant Labour’s tanks firmly on the Conservatives’ lawns. “That’s great [political] triangulation,” they argued.
The shadow Cabinet minister added: “Coming from the Kent/Surrey border he does have a small-c conservative mindset on some things, which is sometimes overlooked when people only think about the London lawyer.”
World traveler
Starmer’s team has spent the past 18 months trying to position him as a statesman-in-waiting. He has traveled the globe meeting foreign leaders and attending major events, such as the World Economic Forum in Davos and the COP climate talks in Dubai.
An important element of this has been Labour’s unconditional support for Ukraine in its war against Russia and broad agreement with the government on most areas of foreign policy.
