Sir Keir Starmer's Preparation for PMQs and the Road to Number 10

PMQs is a significant event in the Westminster timetable, as it gives the leader of the opposition a chance to grab the country's attention and challenge the prime minister.

While politics is a serious business, humor can be a powerful weapon and create a memorable moment that will make the headlines.

Sir Keir Starmer is not known for cracking jokes, but his confidants reveal that he is coming up with more of his own jokes, which is a small but significant change in his strict political regime.

This reveals his growing ease and competitive nature and his refusal to accept that he cannot improve at his job.

Sir Keir has good reason to be confident that he will one day walk through Number 10's shiny black door.

Since he took over in spring 2020, his three-phase plan to fix the party, trash the Tories, and develop an offer has been vindicated.

His solid poll lead is an enormous accomplishment, considering the turmoil and infighting that the party faced in the past.

Sir Keir's solid and sustained opinion poll lead is making Labour think about what they would do if they win.

He is mulling over how to govern, and is already using a red box system like a prime minister would.

He spends his evenings poring over papers, ideas, drafts, or submissions.

However, there is still a lot that could go wrong.

Sensing the opportunity, and worrying it could go south is "scary as hell," says a shadow minister.

There is a widespread awareness that Labour's massive lead now is likely to narrow as a general election comes closer.

As a result, Sir Keir and his team are advised to fight "like they are five points behind." In politics, one of the most important rules is to know how to count.

This is a lesson that Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer is well aware of as he seeks to transform his party's fortunes ahead of the next general election.

Despite the party's huge national poll lead over the Conservatives, winning an overall majority is a much more challenging task, as one of Sir Keir's own MPs in a tightly-fought constituency knows all too well.

According to a source, the biggest danger for Labour is that they rack up big majorities but don't secure enough seats to win an overall majority.

The party's poor performance in the 2019 general election means that winning a majority is akin to scaling Mount Everest, and they cannot control unexpected events that can shape how voters decide.

However, even within the party's control, there are risks.

One source jokes that "The Labour Party" itself is the biggest risk, as the party simply doesn't have the habit of winning general elections.

The danger is that Labour loses discipline and focus, making unforced errors.

As one shadow minister puts it, "we have to hold our nerve" and avoid any mistakes or pressure from the left of the party.

The leadership's focus on watching the pennies is a central part of its strategy, but it has its risks.

With the economy in trouble, the party has dropped or watered down some promises that activists loved, such as the plan for free university tuition in England.

This discipline has led to some grumbles on the left, and the leader's reputation has suffered as a result.

Another challenge for Sir Keir is the political argument he is making.

While he has long argued that the deep roots of many of the country's problems relate to the austerity of the coalition years, his party's plan does not include filling in the financial holes caused by that austerity.

This has led some to question whether the argument stacks up.

Despite these challenges, Sir Keir is confident that his party can win the next general election.

In an interview with the BBC's Andrew Marr, he will argue that Labour has a clear plan to transform the country's economy and society.

Only time will tell whether his strategy will pay off, but one thing is for As the National Policy Forum of the Labour party approaches, the focus is likely to be on the calls for more ambition from the leader of the Unite union, Sharon Graham.

The emphasis will be on reforming and improving public services while ensuring the economy grows without incurring extra spending or borrowing.

However, the leadership of the Labour party is cautious and appears to be traumatised by the past elections when the Conservatives accused them of splashing the cash.

A senior figure in the party suggests that the leadership is "very nervous about making any wrong moves on the economy".

The rising cost of mortgages and the messiness of the past few months have made discipline even more important for the Labour party.

A shadow minister says that the mortgage issues hit homeowners in places like Stevenage and Luton, who are swing voters and are looking for a party that is serious about the economy.

However, the party admits that turning discipline into electoral excitement might not be easy.

Making promises about abstract reform doesn't necessarily get voters to the polling booths.

As Parliament packs up for the summer, there is no question that Sir Keir Starmer has cause to be confident.

His party is well ahead, but there are risks and challenges all around.

There are traps to avoid, big decisions to take, and many thousands of miles of campaigning still to go.

With less time to play football, the Labour leader now tries to stay in a hotel with a gym, to run on a treadmill.

After more than three years in the job, even with many successes, he knows that the journey to the job he craves in Number 10 is still a marathon, not a sprint.