Sticking to the script isn’t helping Keir Starmer this time

Donations scandal rumbles on into Labour conference as allies call for a change in strategy

• Labour conference - live updates

Keir Starmer had a very specific comms strategy during the election campaign: fight on your own turf and don't get dragged into someone else's agenda. Don't get distracted by the fight the Tories want to have on culture or tax - stick to the script and rise above it.

The problem with this tune is that it is one - to coin a football phrase - that you can sing when you're winning. And even in the election campaign there were times when this came a cropper.