Five years into Sir Keir Starmer’s tenure, he still lacks a defining mission

As awful as the Tories were, as damaging as Boris Johnson, Partygate, and Liz Truss were, Sir Keir put Labour back on the board. That is to his credit. You can do nothing in opposition, and Labour are finally in a position to transform the country.

The problem is, five years in, we still don’t quite know what that transformation looks like. We know what was promised.

We know what it doesn't include - namely most of the ten pledges he ran on for leader, including scrapping tuition fees, abolishing Universal Credit, nationalising railways, Royal Mail, energy companies and water companies. He also said during this period his predecessor Jeremy Corbyn was a “friend, as well as a colleague”, which was perhaps news to Corbyn.

While ditching these pledges was unfortunate, it doesn’t have to be a barrier to social change, nor does it necessarily diminish Sir Keir’s capacity to improve people’s lives. He won with a massive mandate, and MPs who will support him whatever.

Unfortunately, as has been the case since he became Prime Minister, we still don’t know what he wants to do. We know he feels forced into decisions he didn’t want to do, such as cutting foreign aid, keeping the two-child benefit cap or changing winter fuel. But the Labour leader still lacks a defining mission.

Consider former prime minister Gordon Brown’s 2009 conference speech, in which he listed all of New Labour’s achievements to rapturous applause. It’s early days for Labour, but where are the policies that would garner equal delight in a few years time?

The government cannot fix everything, at least not in one term. And beyond balancing the books, there is not a narrative of what Sir Keir wants to do, an issue so urgent he will refuse to rest until it is fixed.

While the financial circumstances are difficult, constructing a message should not be. Johnson really wanted a Brexit deal, whatever the cost. Corbyn wanted a more equal society. Those are simplistic and broad terms, but they fed into everything about them, for better or often worse.

We have seen Labour make tough decisions, but not outline a future in which they’ll pay off.

Perhaps the great hope is GB Energy, a body no one understands, but as seen through its recent investments in England, something that can dramatically reduce bills, despite its naysayers. Transforming Britain’s energy system would be a crowning achievement, a green transition that saves on bills and helps save the world. But even on this, the party seems embarrassed, rather than putting the issue front and centre of its messaging.

These aren’t just my views, but those of MPs. Labour backbenchers yearn for a tighter ship, lamenting that during those long years in the wilderness, the party didn’t come in with a plan.

Sir Keir clearly has something. He’s the longest-serving Labour leader since Tony Blair and his rise has been meteoric. If only we knew what he wants.