Keir Starmer’s first speech as Labour leader drew comparisons with Tony Blair but was described as predictable in its box ticking by columnists in the newspapers.

The Daily Express

Paul Baldwin said we may just have ‘game on here’ following Starmer’s speech.

“Keir Starmer gave it the full ‘Tony Blair lite’ at a keynote speech this morning and, you know what, he really does know what boxes to tick,” he said.

“Tory incompetence over Covid – check. Family values – check. Gratitude to NHS - check. Social care mess – check. Living wage (especially in social care) – check. I love my country – check.”

He described it as ‘transparently obvious dog-whistle stuff ‘ but admitted it felt ‘slightly nostalgic’ and reminiscent of Neil Kinnock’s Militant Tendency-ending call to action address at party conference in Bournemouth in 1985.

“Note to Keir though, Kinnock didn’t shoehorn himself into No10 – he merely did the spadework for Blair to schmooze past him,” he warned. “ Sir Keir gets that politics is not a game for runners-up – he said: “I did not come into politics to be in opposition” - and he’s right. But unfortunately swathes of the Labour Party remain deeply shadowy I’m afraid – there are still a lot of dark corners the Party would rather not talk about. A change at the top is a start, but the real problems, the racism, the antisemitic narrative, and the neo-Stalinism, cut a lot deeper.”

He said Keir’s real Achilles heel ‘that not even a cleverly-crafted, well-targeted old Labour pleasing speech can help.’

“Keir is desperate to win back the north – the old Labour Red Wall – but even this speech was really the sound of Islington celebrating itself.

The Guardian

Polly Toynbee said there was no packed hall for Keir Starmer’s first leader’s speech: ‘no standing ovation, no policy parades on the fringe, nor huddles of aficionados dissecting his every phrase.’

“A Zoom party conference is a miserable thing,” she said. “The party members watching from home will be warmed by YouGov’s poll showing, for the first time under Starmer, Labour on level-pegging with the Tories.”

The conference slogan ‘a new leadership’ is a brazen purging of his predecessor, she said.

“It takes time to introduce a new leader; even longer to expunge a dire party image. Burying memories of Labour’s calamitous 2019 campaign will take deep digging.”

She said slightly more voters trust Labour on Covid than the Tories but that the pandemic should be long over by the 2024 election.

“ Here’s the perennial crunch: Labour lags by nearly 10 points when people are asked whether or not it can be trusted with the economy,” she said. “As Starmer trounces the prime minister weekly on every other issue, Johnson keeps stabbing at that Brexit achilles heel.”

“If Labour convinces on the economy, if it is unafraid to champion a national spirit to rebuild all that has been wrecked, then in these abnormal political times it begins to look possible that this electoral Everest can be climbed by 2024.”

The Independent

John Rentoul, chief political commentator for the paper, dissected the speech line by line.

“What Keir Starmer said: I’m delighted that we’re here in Doncaster.

“What he really meant: It’s taking the old trick of travelling to a symbolic place to deliver a speech to an audience mostly of journalists and the local organiser’s friends to its extreme: going to a symbolic place to deliver a speech to an empty room.”

Starmer’s assertion that a second lockdown would be a Government failure really meant ‘we will pretend to be a constructive opposition while exploiting the crisis for all it is worth.’

“When Starmer said while Boris Johnson was writing flippant columns about bendy bananas, I was defending victims and prosecuting terrorists. While he was being sacked by a newspaper for making up quotes, I was fighting for justice and the rule of law.” Translation - I am boring but you know what is good for you.

Starmer’s claim that people shouldn’t have to travel hundreds of miles to find a decent job really meant ‘People should stay where they’re put,’ he said.

“What he said: I know the good a Labour government can do. And I’m already looking forward to it. Thank you.

“What he meant: Thanking you in advance for your cooperation.”