If you happened to be watching Prime Minister’s Questions this week, you would have seen the Labour leader Keir Starmer attempt a mildly mortifying, out-of-character show of humour. “He’s game playing so much he thinks he’s on Love Island,” he said, a grin from ear-to-ear, referring to Boris Johnston, the prime minister. “He thinks he’s Obi-Wan Kenobi; the truth is he’s Jabba the Hutt.” There were no laughs. The comments came following news that Starmer’s shadow cabinet thought of him as “boring”, a view he seems to have taken very much to heart, reportedly asking his colleagues to stop it immediately.

Unsurprisingly, his attempt at damage control hasn’t helped much. “Don’t think Keir has gone far enough to show us he isn’t boring, I think he should rap next, maybe wear a little costume too,” the political journalist Marie Le Conte tweeted, to which Nadine Dorries, the culture secretary, responded with a swift insult directed Starmer’s way: “Notorious B.O.R.E.” Playground name-calling, sure, but for Starmer, who is focused on increasing his chances of becoming our next PM, it’s a serious charge. Boring means basic, lacking vision, non-votable. His predecessor, Jeremy Corbyn, provoked furore and debate, at least. He was loved. He was hated. He was not, god forbid, boring. Boris Johnson, similarly, manages to keep the public entertained despite his general incompetence.