What will be history's verdict on departing Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer?
‘Some have already rushed to judgement and condemned his premiership’
How will history judge Sir Keir Starmer?
Instead of the two terms which he thought necessary to achieve what he wanted, he is stepping down after just two years as Prime Minister.
At the May elections, voters reportedly cited Sir Keir personally as their reason for not voting Labour. Bearing in mind Boris Johnson and Liz Truss, it's hard to understand why he generated such unpopularity.
But in the face of this hostility it's hardly surprising the party opted to change leader.
When he became PM in 2025 he already had experience of big responsibilities as Director of Public Prosecutions.
And his recruitment of highly-rated senior civil servant Sue Gray as chief of staff suggested he was serious about winning power. But now Morgan McSweeney, who succeeded Ms Gray, has acknowledged they did not prepare enough.
And there have been mistakes. Sir Keir has admitted that their initial tone was too gloomy and that he should never have talked about an "island of strangers".
But perhaps the biggest mistake was the first major policy change, the withdrawal of winter fuel payments from most pensioners. Whether the policy was right or wrong, announcing it in isolation rather than in a budget with more positive measures, caused lasting damage.
Sir Keir did, however, also deliver welcome changes - a 7 per cent increase in the national living wage; falling NHS waiting lists; an expansion of free school meals; major new capital investment; improved rights for workers; and gradual re-nationalisation of the railways.
In the end history's verdict on Sir Keir may depend on what happens next.
If Andy Burnham proves a success in government, Sir Keir's time as Labour leader will be viewed as essential in preparing the way. Historians will say he rescued the Labour party from defeat and despair and won a landslide victory against all the odds, securing a huge Commons majority to allow stable government.
Some have already rushed to judgement and condemned his premiership, but if he is to get fair verdict, we have to say, at the very least, that history's jury is still out on the former prosecutor.