UK election a foregone conclusion? That’s why it’s interesting

With a crushing 20-plus point lead in the opinion polls, all the signs are that Labour leader Keir Starmer will be the PM after the general election on 4 July, called by Conservative incumbent Rishi Sunak yesterday.

The stars are aligned for Starmer.  Rival progressives are in abeyance: the Liberal-Democrat party has lost the all-things-to-all-people shine that its name implies, while the Scottish Nationalists have coalesced into a residue of bitter personal opportunism.

He has only one problem.  The Conservatives have thoroughly tested his policies.  And they’re not working too well.