I thought the grownups were back in charge!': John Crace on how Labour shattered his expectations

"I feel I should probably start with an apology. A few days after the 2024 general election, I wrote that it felt as if the grownups were back in charge. It wasn't as if I was carried away by the vision of Keir Starmer or the charisma of Rachel Reeves. More that I felt we had regained a basic level of competence. That politics would become business as usual rather than the breathless psychodrama of the past 10 years. You could go to bed at night relatively confident that the country would be more or less recognisable when you woke up."

"There would be no more mad people doing mad things as we raced through five or six news cycles in the course of a couple of hours. And part of me was a little concerned. Because what is good for economic stability and social justice isn't necessarily good for a sketch writer. Dull, well-intentioned politicians putting in place dull, well-intentioned policies, and a government that is ticking over more or less OK, do not necessarily make for great entertainment."

"For the last year of the Conservative government, it felt as if Westminster was demob happy. There was no real jeopardy. Everyone knew what was coming next. There would be a general election at some point in 2024 and the Tories would lose. Not because there was a great outpouring of love for Starmer's Labour but because after 14 years of austerity, Brexit, Partygate and Liz Truss, everyone was sick to death of the Conservatives."

A sense of restored competence followed the 2024 general election, suggesting politics would revert to business as usual rather than recent breathless psychodrama. The country appeared likely to remain recognisable day to day, with fewer sudden crises and extreme behaviour dominating news cycles. That stability risked making political life less entertaining as dull, well-intentioned policies replaced spectacle. The final year of the Conservative government felt demobilised and lacking jeopardy, with a general election expected in 2024 and the Tories predicted to lose mainly because voters were exhausted by 14 years of austerity, Brexit, Partygate and leadership turmoil. Widespread desire for change was apparent.

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