Who speaks for Britain? In an era of volatility, the general election alone was never likely to settle this question. Social media has transformed politics into a permanent battle for control of the narrative. The threat that confronted Keir Starmer during the riots – only a month into his premiership – was that he would lose it. An ensemble of supervillains more redolent of Gotham than Westminster, with Elon Musk as the anarchic Joker, sought to cast Starmer as a hapless bystander: in office but not in power.
Inside the cabinet there is quiet satisfaction that the Prime Minister has defied this charge. The Hobbesian duty to preserve order was upheld. In an era of state failure, government has demonstrated anew its capacity to act. Ministers also believe that the government has prevailed on the political front. “Keir Starmer has shown that he is more in touch with public opinion than Nigel Farage,” observes one cabinet member. While the Reform leader has accused Starmer of posing the “biggest threat to free speech” in British history and of licensing “two-tier policing”, few voters share such concerns. Only 7 per cent, according to polling by More in Common, believe that the police have been “too harsh” on the rioters, while just 18 per cent agree that the police treat ethnic minorities more favourably than white people. Farage’s own favorability among the public has fallen from -35 to -42.
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