Starmer rolled up his sleeves and channeled his inner John Major – but his critics remain unconvinced

Sir Keir Starmer will feel buoyed by the support of those in the room today as he delivers a make-or-break speech to save his premiership following last week’s disastrous election results.

“Come on Keir!” shouts and screams were heard. as well as heckling journalists who ask awkward questions.

But the Labor loyalists who packed the hall in central London were not the audience this beleaguered prime minister needed to persuade.

And right after he spoke, he got his answer. Former minister Catherine West withdrew her threat to oppose Sir Keir as a leadership candidate but announced she would start collecting signatures from Labor MPs to launch a contest in September.

He said: “I listened to the Prime Minister’s speech this morning. I welcome the renewed energy and ideas. But I have reluctantly concluded that this morning’s speech was too little, too late.

“Last Thursday’s results show that the prime minister has failed to offer hope. The best thing for the party and the country right now is an orderly transition.”

Other MPs who remained silent over the weekend also called for Sir Keir to leave.

So while it’s good news that there won’t be any sneaky horse candidates, the threat of a challenge isn’t gone.

The question will be whether rivals who have been floating around for months – health secretary Wes Streeting, former deputy chancellor Angela Rayner, energy minister Ed Miliband – will take the risk.

But in some ways the speech summed up everything about the prime minister and what went wrong.

While he certainly had more vigor and energy in his presentation, it was obvious that there was no new direction.

There has been no shift to the left, as Ms. Rayner insisted in her statement on Sunday and as many other MPs implored her to.

There was a promise to renationalise British Steel, a promise to put Britain back at the heart of Europe and a reminder that “I got the big decisions right”.

The problem is that the last embattled prime minister to rely on “I got the big decisions right” as a defense was Boris Johnson, and we all know what happened to him.

But it was another former Tory prime minister that Sir Keir was channeling in his speech; Rather strangely, he decided to channel his inner John Major to win the support of his critics.

For those with a distant memory, Sir John found himself in a similar situation when he tried to unite the increasingly divided Conservative Party in the 1990s.

Major’s response was to take off his jacket and tie, roll up his sleeves, and let people know he was heading to work as he made his opening remarks.

Starmer did exactly the same thing today. He even used Major’s quote “putting Britain at the heart of Europe”.

To be fair, Sir John has managed to bypass the Eurosceptic wing of the Conservative Party – or “the bastards”, as he calls them – and perhaps Sir Keir now hopes he can do the same against his Labor rivals.

The mayor of Greater Manchester certainly did not appear prepared to welcome Andy Burnham’s return to Westminster in a move that would almost certainly mean a change of leader and prime minister.

But while Sir John was not ousted by MPs, there was a warning from history. He survived the conspirators in 1997, leading the Conservatives to their worst defeat in their history.

For those worried about the prospect of Nigel Farage playing at No 10, this is a lesson from history that will send shivers down their spines.