“Labor leader Keir Starmer knows that slow and steady is the way to win the race” – Rachael Bletchly

Rachael Bletchly says the people of this country must decide whether they want a leader who lacks ethics or one who simply lacks charisma after Keir Starmer was accused of being boring

Union leader Keir Starmer strikes me as the sane guy – the honest, practical, good-natured guy who would make the ideal neighbor.

No loud parties, a neatly trimmed hedge, a great jump lead for your dead battery and of course a full set of adjustable wrenches.

I’m happy to help you deal with your DIY disasters, but best not to bother him on Sunday mornings in case he listens to the Archers omnibus with a cup of coffee and a digestif before he cleans the goldfish tank and heads to the B&Q.

Unfortunately, the shadow cabinet doesn’t see their leader in quite the same light. This week they accused him of being boring, “boring voters to death,” with his lack of drive and charisma. “What’s boring is being in opposition,” Sir Keir is said to have replied.

And at the meeting, which didn’t seem to get heated, he suggested the really boring people were the ones trying to change course on No. 10. He’s right.

Because Starmer is like the tortoise in the famous Aesop fable and he knows that slow and steady is the way to win the race.

Especially when the hare that’s holding him up quickly runs out of breath. Prime Minister Boris Johnson used to be a real Duracell rabbit, banging away while others seemed to be relentlessly slacking off. But the resignation of his ethics adviser, Lord Geidt, has certainly removed the last battery, leaving him powerless and lethargic.

And now the people of this country have to decide whether they want a leader with no ethics or just no charisma.

What’s wrong with being a little boring? We’ve had a lot of boring but effective PMs in the past like Clement Attlee, John Major, and Gordon Brown.

And Labour’s Jack Straw, who was Cabinet Secretary for 13 years, claims he got himself out of sticky situations by yelling at people in “excruciatingly boring sentences”.

“I was Mogadon, for free, without a prescription,” he claimed in his autobiography.

Labor is wrong in trying to make Starmer seem more exciting than he is.

People eventually see through fakes, which is why they get bored with Boris Johnson.

When they’re in a crisis, they want someone they can trust—an honest, practical, and sensible leader who’s happy to help.

And slowly and steadily, Keir Starmer has all the tools for the job.