It was last Sunday night that word reached Morgan McSweeney, Sir Keir Starmer’s campaign chief, that he might have to cancel his holiday to prepare for a snap election. The low-profile Irishman had been through the adrenaline-depleting ritual of rumour, excitement and disappointment before.
This time it felt different. Intelligence was emerging from the shadow cabinet. David Lammy was at a private dinner with Yulia Navalnaya, widow of the Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, when a senior Tory texted to say it was on. A sudden surge in activity on the betting markets sealed McSweeney’s conviction that a July poll would be called imminently.
Yet as late as Wednesday morning, when the pair met in the House of Commons, Starmer himself remained sceptical. The Labour