Thread by @paulwaugh

Striking how combative and self-confident @BorisJohnson was on Marr.
Plus his direct messaging ("trust the police", wages growing, fastest ec growth in G7, pandemic triggered 'fiscal meteorite' neither Thatcher nor Wilson faced)
Big contrast to Starmer just 1 week ago.

Of course there were also the usual evasions and misdirection. The point is he's still ahead in the polls and held onto reservoir of public good will in part because he's v good at simple messaging. And also because Labour often isn't.

Note direct message to Leave voters (esp Red Wall): “When people voted for change in 2016 and when people voted for change in 2019, they voted for the end of a broken model of the UK economy that relied on low wages and low skills and chronic low productivity."
But problem is...

....that lots of here and now things seem 'broken', like petrol queues, supply chain shortages, energy bill hikes.