Starmer jettisoned his campaign promises, announcing policies as if the opposite pledges had never been committed to paper. He attempted modest reforms, to welfare and other expenditures, only to U-turn on virtually every major decision. One week, he declared women could have penises. When fashion dictated, he changed his mind. Another week saw him designate Britain as an “island of strangers.” Then, weeks later, he confessed to not having read the speech in advance, and disowned the phrase. Starmer the leader proved as elusive and hollow as Starmer the man: defined, fleetingly, by his last volte-face.