A big COVID-19 political event today has been Keir Starmer’s broadcast response as leader of the opposition to Johnson TV address to the nation last night.

Such broadcasts have been an established party of political coverage since the 1960s when TV was starting to establish itself as the primary communications medium.

Dehenna Davison is very new to the Commons having won Bishop Auckland from Labour at the general election just five months ago.

Normally responses of opposition leaders don’t make any real mark and hardly get noticed. Tonight with Starmer it was very different because he came over effectively managing to raise issues in a manner that wasn’t overtly party political. Some were saying that he looked more “prime ministerial” than the incumbent. Certainly that appeared to be one of Starmer’s objectives.

Tory responses like Davison’s show the nervousness within the party about Labour’s new leader. On the face of it she shouldn’t be worried having won the seat with an 8k majority. But on December 12th Labour was led by Corbyn who could not be more unlike his successor.

Mike Smithson