What went wrong for Starmer: Morgan McSweeney gives his side of the story

Thank you very much, Nick.

In less than three weeks time, your old boss, Keir Starmer, is gonna leave Downing Street.

We, in the course of our conversation, will talk quite a lot about things that went right, things that went wrong.

But as you wait for that moment, do you kind of have a summary view? Where did it all go wrong? Why are we in the position we're in?

I'm still processing it all, to be honest with you.

I haven't worked it all through.

It's very sad.

Uh, I couldn't watch all of his press conference, 'cause I, I found it quite sad.

I thought he went with, with great grace.

Uh, I think about the privilege it was as well, how, uh, to go through those six years with him, to be in amazing situations where you're in the room, the country's being changed, winning elections.

Um, but I think for me, one of the main less- well, some of the main lessons are, uh, preparation, uh, is far more important to strategy when it comes to just about any aspect of politics.

I think politics moves a lot faster these days.

Uh, it moves faster than the institutions, uh, that govern it, um, are ready for.

Um, and, uh, and, and I, and I think you don't have, uh, enough time to get it right.

You have to start delivering for people very quickly.

You run out of political capital soon.

And, um, so it's disappointing, it's a disappointing end, but I wouldn't have, I wouldn't have swapped it for the world.

But in summary, it sounds like you're saying you were a little underprepared for government and underprepared for the sheer speed of politics, the speed at which that vast majority you got suddenly looks like a weight around your neck rather than a great asset.

Yeah.

Yeah, I, I, I think, I think that's right.

I think that we didn't prepare enough for what kind of world we were gonna be in.

We're now in a very different era, um, than when Labour was last in government, and I think we didn't have enough conversations at the top of the party about what that meant, how to prepare for it, what that meant for the state, uh, how the state needed to be reformed.

Uh, because in lots of ways the state is really out of shape and is unable to deliver for people, um, and so people are frustrated.

Um, and to understand enough about the mood of the country, because people talk a lot about voters are not patient.

It's not patience they lack, it's time.