Labour isn’t winning by luck. Keir Starmer has earned a

The opposition leader has always been a man on a mission. On Thursday, keep in mind that none of this was inevitable

Time has dragged in the final stages of the election campaign. It feels like the end of a long-haul flight – the plane has already landed, and restless passengers fidget in their seats waiting for the signal to disembark.

The itinerary was fixed long ago. Mild turbulence has not affected the polling trajectory. Unless every standard instrument for reading the national mood has malfunctioned, voters will soon emerge into a Britain governed by the Labour party – a place they haven’t been for 14 years.

Rafael Behr is a Guardian columnist

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