Starmer Beats The Drum For Change In Battleground Blitz

Labour leader backed by ex-Tory donors including Boots boss

- DAVID MADDOX

Sir Keir Starmer donned his election boots yesterday as Labour launched its bid to seize back 10 Downing Street after 14 years in opposition with a 48-hour blitz of battleground seats.

In a presidential-style event in Thurrock, Essex, the Labour leader set the tone for the next six months of solid electioneering with a “stability” first message to voters who turned their back on the party after previously supporting Tony Blair. With a confident performance surrounded by his top team, Sir Keir laid out his six “first steps”, aping the five pledges of New Labour in 1997 which swept Blair to power.

Among his supporters were two former Tory donors including Boots boss Sebastian James, an Old Etonian friend of Boris Johnson and David Cameron, who endorsed Labour and praised Sir Keir’s focus on economic growth and revitalising Britain’s high streets.

The second, Rob Boughton, runs one of the biggest developers in the South East; his company has donated nearly £1m to the Conservatives since 2017. But he told the audience that Labour’s message on economic stability and growth had won him over.

The launch was followed by the biggest splurge of advertising spending by Labour since 2019 and the Labour leader and his shadow cabinet members hitting battleground seats previously held by Labour but which had turned to the Tories in the last 15 years. Shadow ministers, billboard ads and ad vans targeted key seats which Labour need to win back in areas such as Wolverhampton, Bassetlaw, Swindon, Leigh, Doncaster, Barnet, Newcastle, Aldershot and Thurrock.