IN Opposition Sir Keir Starmer was the Patron Saint of Political Standards who was never happier than when beating up the Tories over sleaze.
He was the self-styled “Mr Rules” who pledged to bring a lawyerly sense of order and dignity back to public life.
Devoid of any real ideology, this school prefect-like deference to procedure was a key selling point in an era of Tory chaos.
And now he is presiding over quite possibly the most scandal-prone government in modern times.
Peter Mandelson, Angela Rayner, Louise Haigh, Rushanara Ali, Tulip Siddiq, Andrew Gwynne – each name another nail driven into the coffin of his pledge to be squeaky clean.
Starmer is not responsible for each of the misdeeds committed by his team, although clearly his judgment was lacking on the Mandelson appointment.
But the higher you climb on your high horse when attacking others, the harder you fall in the minds of voters when it’s you in the crosshairs.
And if Starmer can’t run a government of standards, people might wonder what he’s even for.
