India, May 30 -- "You don't think the country is fundamentally broken. You don't think the model of the country is broken. You just think it's been let down by a series of bad prime ministers who have effectively managed the situation badly," a frustrated Tom McTague, political editor of the New Statesman asked British Prime Minister (PM) Keir Starmer in 2025. The journalist had been shadowing Starmer for months to understand his vision and felt he was getting nowhere. The response he received confirmed McTague's suspicions: "Yeah, you're right," Starmer said. The Labour leader, who, in 2024, led the party to its third-largest parliamentary majority in history, failed to fully grasp his country.

The UK stands a good chance at getting its...