Labour die-hards think she’ll be the star of the show if the party wins the general election. They see her as shrewd, serious and highly partisan, the second most powerful figure in the party.

While Starmer lumbers about trying not to scare the electorate, her role is to convince the party faithful that Labour will bring radical change in power.

It’s a double act that worked well for Labour in 1997, helping the party to a landslide as Tony Blair reassured wary voters while Gordon Brown…