Sir Keir Starmer, the UK’s new prime minister

CONGRATULATIONS go to Sir Keir Starmer and the Labour Party for their resounding general election victory under the first past the post system on Thursday.

The general public mood has been that he deserves to lead after the shabby way in which the Conservatives treated the responsibility of power. Any fragility in the foundations of this victory, however, could quickly be stiffened up by a more open way of government.

Mr Starmer has promised a new way of doing politics, but did so while giving rather robotic answers to an ITV reporter about the apparent loss of votes in areas with higher Muslim populations. In a confident start for the new prime minister, this was perhaps his weakest moment.

There is a lot more he could say from what he has learned from his experience as an MP in Holborn and St Pancras to be reassuring after some comments which he himself admitted had been “clumsy” in the final days before the election.

We must hope he can break free from the repetitive interview tactic of responding to questions with an answer to something that had not been asked.

Of greater worry is the choice to not to say anything at all by some Labour candidates during the campaign, most notably in our case Praful Nargund.

He stood in Islington North but ignored countless requests for an interview from our sister paper, the Islington Tribune, that borough’s best-read local.

He later complained that he had been the victim of misinformation online, not making the link that unregulated social media posts can be partly countered by setting out your stall in established media outlets.

Whatever tone our leader comments may take, our papers are known for providing space for candidates from all parties and are much fairer than the coverage you may see in the most aggressive national titles.

Mr Nargund’s campaign failed the first test of having the confidence of speaking to a local newspaper reporter, and then failed at the ballot box too.

Why have we cried foul so loudly about this? None of us should allow this to become a precedent; not if you believe in accountability and the role the press plays in our democracy. Dodging and bobbing is a walk into Boris Johnson’s world of media control, and we saw how the lack of strong questioning helped create a climate for his wayward style of governing.

Labour has a dominant majority now and, whether it was secured by enthusiasm for its policies or a protest against the Tories, it is in a position where it should be confident to answer any question about its plans.

No more bot answers. No more Ming Vase.