Starmer sells himself on stability – but does that benefit the country, or just business and elites? | Andy Beckett

The pursuit of stable government' could become a trap: there will be great pressure from the establishment to keep its privileges intact

In scary enough circumstances, stability" can be one of the most appealing words in politics. When a country has had years of political and economic chaos, as Britain has, who doesn't want life to be more stable? More consistency in the provision of public services, in people's incomes, in the behaviour of governments - things taken for granted in calmer times - becomes something which voters yearn for and which ambitious politicians promise.

So far, Keir Starmer's Labour leadership has really been one long, sometimes ruthless exercise in creating and offering stability: for the party after the turmoil under Jeremy Corbyn, for the country after the collapsing policies of the Tories, and for 10 Downing Street, which most observers expect to soon be occupied by Starmer's solid, methodical, largely unchanging personality.

Andy Beckett is a Guardian columnist