New UK Prime Minister walks straight into summer from hell

With Britain’s public services at breaking point and its prisons full, and a disillusioned, angry population, Keri Starmer has walked on to a sticky wicket — and even his predecessor Rishi Sunak knew it.

Starmer was well aware before the election that, if he became prime minister, the infrastructure he would inherit was creaking under enormous pressure.

This was particularly stark in the case of prisons, where the Prison Governors’ Association was one of several organizations sounding the alarm about overcrowding. The state of jails was high on a list reportedly drawn up by Starmer’s Chief of Staff Sue Gray of potential horrors awaiting the next government.

Starmer himself has long faced criticism about being tepid and lacking in connection with the public, while Nigel Farage’s Reform party have already shown they are willing to beat up on him over the handling of the riots where the Conservatives will not.