Is Labour offering precisely what the country is craving?
Labour’s manifesto launch capped off a week crammed full of policy proposals, costings, and photo ops.
And Starmer and his inner circle will have been pleased with today’s relatively smooth and unsurprisingly offering.
If you were watching the Sky News leaders debate last night, you might have heard an outburst of groaning as Starmer mentioned again that his father was a toolmaker.
While he looked almost hurt – perhaps understandably, given the personal nature of the story – it is a key part of the party’s strategy to keep repeating these images and messages until they are familiar to the public.
That sense of having heard it all before is a sign that part of the plan is working.
The contents of the manifesto were much the same – there were no ‘rabbits’ or anything else pulled out of hats. Starmer insisted he wanted to “run the country, not run the circus”.
And anyone searching for pantomime politics might find it in Clacton, he added, in a nod to how his relationship with Reform UK’s Nigel Farage might evolve in the coming years.
Labour’s plans effectively involve working with businesses to create the confidence and conditions for economic growth. This will allow them to fund the public service improvements they want to make, hoping voters will see the benefits.
Fuelled in part by the chaos of the last few years, they say they want to clean up some of politics’ mess, raise standards, increase devolution, and reform the House of Lords.
It’s perhaps not the world’s most inspiring pitch. We’ll do, they claim, the sensible stuff the other lot messed up. But if it works, could giving the public a break from the endless political merry-go-round, in fact, be exactly what the country is craving?
But if it doesn’t, and growth is far from guaranteed, what then?
Post-July 4, people and businesses who’ve lent Labour their vote and belief will be eagerly awaiting an answer.