In league with regional mayors, the prime minister can test good ideas in areas like housing. There is promising talent in Labour’s ranks too. Fast track itt was just before breakfast, at a leisure centre in Norfolk, that this particular era of Conservatism came to an end.
So now for the difficult bit: delivering where so many western governments – not just here in Britain but in rustbelt America and parts of France facing similar challenges – have previously failed on the promise of a better life for the overlooked and forgotten, while knowing full well that if he fails there is something darker waiting in the wings.
But for now there are other ways of combining Starmer’s unwavering focus and determination with a dash more boldness. The big change since 1997, as the Greater Manchester mayor, Andy Burnham, tells anyone who will listen, is devolution: Labour’s city mayors have been grappling for years with the problems its new cabinet will face and are begging to be used as incubators, piloting ideas on the government’s behalf that can be swiftly rolled out nationally if they work.