Protesters fall silent as Downing Street echoes with the sound of Starmerism

A A gate creaks. A flash of blue light. A helicopter whirrs. A motorcade sweeps by. Two tall guys in suits and headphones look at each other above the prime minister’s Audi and nod. A doorknob clicks. Clay-colored hair. Glasses. Madness.

It was in a deluge of elaborately choreographed miniature Union Jack flags that the new prime minister entered the scene. Such scenes have happened so often in recent times that it is easy to forget that they are sometimes rather more important.

For an hour and a half, the few Labour Party workers still standing after six long weeks and a very long night were gathered to line the pavements on both sides of Downing Street. These are historic moments in the life of a nation.