Voters are receptive to ‘leftwing’ policies but Labour must build trust | Larry Elliott

With Britain facing multiple challenges, Keir Starmer's party is right to promise prudence

Labour is not much cop at winning elections. In its entire history, the party has won only five elections with a comfortable majority. The brutal truth is that Labour should be good at opposition because it has plenty of practice at it.

Just about every political pundit has advice for Sir Keir Starmer on how to avoid a fifth successive defeat, an outcome that would be dismal even by Labour's own standards. To win, it is said, Labour needs to be seen as a solid government-in-waiting but also have radical policies to put before the public. It must challenge the Tories for the support of older voters while appealing to the young; and win back Brexit supporters in former red wall" seats while at the same time hanging on to those who backed remain in 2016. There are, no question, easier jobs than being the leader of the opposition.