Give us our mojo back, Prime Minister! Mark Andrews on Keir Starmer's pre-Budget manoeuvres

It's just that 'the Prime Minister stole my mojo' seemed a pretty apt summary as Sir Keir Starmer took to the stage to lay the ground for tomorrow's Budget.

Seven months ago to the day, Sir Keir had launched Labour's local election campaign amid no little razzmatazz at a cheery press conference in Dudley. This time, Birmingham Repertory Theatre was the venue, but despite the presence of popular West Midlands historian Professor Carl Chin, entertainment was notably thin on the ground. The PM's speech was preceded by a gloomy video of tales about NHS waiting lists, violent crime, and housing shortages.

Richard Parker, the newly elected mayor for the West Midlands, had the task of providing the warm-up, blaming his Tory predecessor for promising 'shiny new trams', without identifying where the funding would come from. You didn't need to be Russell Grant to see which way this was going.

Sir Keir strode onto the sombre crimson stage to polite applause, but there was little of the euphoria that greeted him in March. Labour branding was conspicuous by its absence.

For fans of buzzword bingo, there were rich pickings to be had. Sir Keir unapologetically repeated his pre-election pledge that 'working people' would not be hit in the pocket, undeterred by the weekend debate about what that actually meant.

"They know who they are," he told the audience.

'Fixing the Foundations' was the dominant slogan, with Sir Keir expanding on the construction-industry metaphor: "We have all found ourselves in the situation where you find damp in your house, you can either paint over it or you can strip back the plaster." I was half expecting him to tell us his uncle was a hod carrier.

Of course a lot has happened since Sir Keir's immaculately choreographed rally in Dudley in March. But if seven months is a long time in politics, five years is an age. Sir Keir is banking on the dark days of October 2024 being a distant memory by the time he next has to face the electorate in 2029.

"Better times are ahead," he promised.

And my gut feeling is that the gloom will be fleeting. It is the oldest trick in the politicians' book to prepare the ground by creating a sense of foreboding ahead of a difficult announcement, only for the public to heave a mild sigh of relief when the news isn't quite as terrifying as we had been warned.

At least that is what I'm hoping. Because if things really are this bad, I won't be the only one losing my mojo.