The question facing Sir Keir Starmer is the one that Gareth Southgate never quite answered: how do you get the most out of the Number 10 role?
The parallels with the political situation Starmer has inherited and that faced by Southgate 8 years ago don’t stop there.
How do you reverse the countrys’ fortunes, recover national pride and get the people behind your team?
Reset the relationship with the media
Early on in his tenure, Gareth Southgate understood that he needed to reconnect the institution of the England national team and the players with the country and supporters – he understood that positive energy from fans would boost the team and motivate the players.
He knew he would need the media’s help, so he instituted a radical change in culture inside the England camp, making his players far more accessible to journalists and giving the media a sense that they were part of the journey and important stakeholders – rather than simply a troublesome distraction to be managed.
The term ‘face the media’ was banned in the England training camp. The players and the manager also penned candid and vulnerable open letters laying bare their own struggles and demons – dissuading us from the notion that they were simply overpaid pampered pros – and reminding us of their human qualities that we could all connect to.
Early days, but Starmer has already held two press conferences within his first two weeks in charge.
It’s not yet evidence of a change in approach, but it is certainly encouraging for journalists keen to hold the government to account.
Any honeymoon period Sir Keir may be enjoying with Conservative-supporting media is likely to be short lived, so his strategy towards the more sceptical and even hostile outlets will be interesting to see.
Change in tone and language
As well as bringing the media in and winning them over – Southgate’s appointment marked a change in tone and language of leadership that was counter cultural.
Gone was the dismissive “I don’t see the need to call players personally” approach to squad selection from his predecessor Roy Hodgson, replaced by a more paternal style.
This was epitomised early on, after a training ground fight between two players when Southgate defended them saying: ”I love all of my players. We are like a family and all family have disagreements.”
Suddenly here was an England manager who was espousing ‘softer’ qualities – kindness, generosity and empathy – backing players publicly while perhaps punishing privately – balancing loyalty to trusted lieutenants with the wellbeing of the whole.
James Graham who wote the play “Dear England” dedicated to Southgate and his team said:
“He was everything we didn’t have in our politics at that time: a long-term plan, a genuine desire to unite people around a particular project, rather than divide people and cause upset and pain and toxicity.”
Could Labour’s landslide defeat be a watershed moment for the tone and tenor of political debate?
Rishi Sunak has been gracious in defeat, congratulating Sir Keir Starmer on the victory and wishing him well.
In his response to the King’s Speech – Starmer remarked that his predecessor had “gone well beyond the usual standards of generosity” and thanked him for that.
Those exchanges, plus the sight of Sunak, Starmer and their deputies Oliver Dowden and Angela Rayner sharing a joke on the floor of the House of Commons are a far cry from the divisive vitriol heard at dispatch box in recent years.
Westminster watchers may observe that while it’s not unheard of for harmony to break out in politics, it rarely lasts long.
Tune out the noise
Gareth Southgate may seem nice – but he had to be ruthless to prevail in his role for as long as he did. He developed a clear plan and stayed resolute in the face of public opinion.
So, when the beers rained down on him from a stand of angry England fans – he walked towards it, looked them in the eye and expressed his disappointment publicly afterwards.
The mentality was transmitted to his players too. Penalties – the thing England fans were traumatised by for being routinely terrible at suddenly became the side’s specialism.
And who can forget the public outcry when he dropped a trio of popular left wingers? In this case Rashford, Sterling, Grealish.
Starmer has less to learn here. He acted swiftly to suspend seven Labour MPs from the left of the party who’d voted against the government on scrapping the two-child benefit cap.
While silverware remains elusive and the Gareth Southgate era has ended – there are already signs that his legacy of leadership will last way beyond the sting of defeat.
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