Starmer talking to Blair ‘a lot’ about how he prepared for power

Sir Keir Starmer has revealed he talks to Sir Tony Blair “a lot” to draw on his experience of preparing for power in 1997.

The Labour leader said he spoke to both Sir Tony and Gordon Brown, his party’s last two prime ministers, on a regular basis about their experiences of moving from opposition into government.

Opinion polls show Sir Keir is on track to become the first Labour incumbent of Downing Street for 14 years, while Sir Tony entered office following 18 years of Conservative rule.

In an interview with the Jeremy Vine Show on Channel 5, Sir Keir said: “I talk to Tony a lot about the period just before ’97, because obviously I’m very interested in talking to people who have won elections and taken a party from opposition into government.

“In the Labour Party we’ve only done that three times. We did it in 1945 with [Clement] Attlee, we did it in 1964 with [Harold] Wilson and we did it in ’97 with Tony Blair. So talking to Tony and Gordon about that has been really helpful.

“It’s been not so much about specific policies but about the pace, the preparedness of getting an opposition ready for government if we are privileged enough to be voted in to serve.”

Sir Keir, who has spoken at length about supporting Arsenal and describes himself as a “massive” football fan, likened leading the opposition to “being a manager down on the touchline, and 60,000 people are giving you their advice on how to do it differently”.

Working behind the scenes

Despite confirming he holds regular talks with both, Sir Keir has poured cold water on the idea of inviting either Sir Tony or Mr Brown into any prospective Labour government following reports the former was working behind the scenes to help build relations in the Middle East.

In September 2024, Sir Tony will publish a guide for a “busy, aspiring leader” which will be widely seen as a handbook for the Labour leader.

In July 2023, he told Sir Keir he had done well to turn Labour’s fortunes around since 2019, when the party suffered its worst defeat since 1935 under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership.

“I was lucky enough to have Neil Kinnock and John Smith before me, you weren’t,” Sir Tony said.

He has occasionally sought to act as a “critical friend” of Sir Keir’s leadership, urging him in 2021 to reject “wokeism” and push Labour’s far-Left factions to the margins of the party if he was serious about winning power.

He has also warned that the public must not be asked to do a “huge amount” to tackle climate change. His intervention predated Sir Keir’s abandonment of a flagship £28 billion green borrowing commitment.