Keir Starmer crisis laid bare as 'Labour finished for decades'

Keir Starmer is "finished" and Labour won't recover for decades following his leadership, according to a political commentator. In a debate on the Daily Expresso podcast, Carole Malone described Labour's situation as so dire, the Green party would not want to join them in a coalition to maintain power.

The columnist rejected host JJ Anisiobi's suggestion that Labour would link up with the Greens in an attempt to oust Farage, discussing an Ipsos poll that pinned Nigel Farage as the UK's preferred choice for the next Prime Minister. She stated: "Labour are finished in the same way we thought the Tories were finished."

She added: "I don't think Labour will come back for decades after the next election. I think they're going to do so much damage in the next three years that the Greens wouldn't want to team up with them, even if they could."

Some 33% of people pinned the Reform UK leader as a better PM compared to 30%, who backed Starmer. When asked if this was a major turning point in British politics, Ms Malone responded: "I think it is, but I don't know why anybody would be surprised."

She added: "I think Starmer even thinks that. I mean, he's constantly talking about Farage. It's like he lives rent-free inside his head. Every time Starmer makes a speech, he mentions Farage."

The TV and radio presenter believed Brits are turning to the Reform leader for one reason, because "Farage does human, Starmer does robot," adding: "Starmer and his party are terrified of Farage."

Ms Malone said the Prime Minister has "no personal appeal" and cannot relate to or connect with people. However, she pinned Labour's major problem on the fact Reform has become the party of the working classes, meaning it has lost its core voters.

"Labour has let the working classes down so badly and Reform UK has slipped into that gap. It is astonishing that parties to the right are serving the working classes now, as opposed to parties of the left," she said.

The poll showed the Conservative party has made some headway with public opinion, with voters choosing the Tories over Labour when asked which party they prefer, following Kemi Badenoch's party conference.