With his first party conference as prime minister coming up and a huge majority in parliament, Keir Starmer should be riding high. Instead his popularity has taken a hit, the mood in the Labour party seems to be downbeat and he is answering a stream of questions about gifts to him and his wife.
Anushka Asthana, the former Today in Focus presenter turned ITV’s deputy political editor, has been following Starmer closely since the start of his political journey. She tells Helen Pidd why Labour is so focused on spending restraint and discusses the problems that the fragility of the party’s majority is causing. But she says with the junior doctors’ pay disputes resolved, GB Energy and rail nationalisation going ahead there are also reasons for traditional Labour voters to be optimistic.
