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Robbie
@mrpostsgood.bsky.social
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oldtrotter.bsky.social
From Patrick Maguire's sub stack. Says an awful lot, and none of it good.
The swift and singular nature of Starmer's rise meant he never had to do any of this stuff. On the rare occasions he tried, he hated it. One of my favourite stories from Get In, the book Gabriel and I wrote about his rise to power - we've just finished the draft of a new chapter for February's paperback, by the way - is about a rare trip Keir took to Strangers in 2020. His aide and future PPS Chris Ward, the closest thing he's ever had to a praetorian guard, told him it would be a good idea to go and drum up nominations for his leadership bid. He stayed for a single pint, left as soon as he could, and on his way out told Ward: "Please don't make me do this again." As prime minister it's even harder to find the time to do this, though Amy Richards, Starmer's new political director, is doing a very good job of shoving him out of his comfort zone and in front of backbenchers. However basic a responsibility this is, you can't understate the scale of her achievement in getting the boss to do it. This is a guy who, in opposition, used to refuse to ring hyperactive and well-connected MPs like John Spellar and pretend to be interested in what he had to say for no more than ten minutes. Starmer never understood why he should have to speak to people he didn't really know about things he didn't care about.
November 12, 2025 at 4:39 PM