What did Keir Starmer say in ‘last chance’ speech to save his premiership?

Keir Starmer’s speech and press conference on Monday morning was almost universally billed as his final chance to save his premiership. Was it enough? And what – if anything – did he actually offer?

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   1. ‘The British people are tired of a status quo that has failed them. Change cannot come quickly enough’

   This is a line which could have appeared in any Starmer speech of the last 12 months, but this time a lot of Labour MPs would have wanted something new and substantial in policy terms to back it. And there was not.

   Yes, there was a lot of passion, and a lot of talk about fighting on. But the only policy offerings were either not new – a youth experience scheme as part of a reset with the EU – or already effectively the case, as with the announcement that British Steel will be nationalised.

   If Starmer sceptics in Labour are to be mollified, there is an argument that he needed to produce a Flemish giant-sized rabbit from his metaphorical hat, something to make them sit up and think: Oh, maybe this time things are different. But he did not.

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   2. ‘I’m not going to walk away’

   Asked directly after his speech if he would fight any challenge to his leadership, Starmer said he would. He repeatedly set out the argument that any attempt to remove him would be deeply damaging to both Labour and the country more widely.

   “I take responsibility for not walking away, not plunging our country into chaos as the Tories did time and again,” he said.

   This is an argument which many Labour MPs understand and have some sympathy with. But in the wake of such a terrible set of election results, many increasingly feel that even a roll of the dice is better than just hanging on for dear life.

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   3. ‘The actual decision would be one for the NEC’

   The decision about whether or not Andy Burnham would be allowed to give up his Greater Manchester mayoralty and fight for a Westminster seat – and then, very possibly, challenge Starmer.

   The prime minister is sticking to the line from earlier this year, when Burnham sought permission to fight the Gorton and Denton byelection, and was blocked by Starmer loyalists on the party’s national executive committee (NEC).

   Labour went on to lose the perviously safe seat, coming third to the Greens and Reform. Burnham allies, of who there are quite a few among Labour MPs, will be both despairing and furious at this answer.