The party’s conference could have been mired in recrimination. Instead, the Labour leader looks like he’s on a path to victory
It takes a truly abysmal prime minister to make the opposition leader’s job look easy. It is the toughest gig in Westminster. You struggle to get noticed until you make a mistake, when the pillory is merciless. If you attack the government without a better offer, you are carping from the sidelines. When you come up with a better plan, the government nicks it. If you have ambitions but few policies, critics say there is no substance. If you go into detail, pundits lament an absence of vision.
Any strategy to beat an incumbent party involves appealing to its voters, which is denounced as treason by your own activists. You must generate excitement about the prospect of change, while emitting reassurance that the change is not alarming.
Rafael Behr is a Guardian columnist
