The Labour Party is vanishing before our eyes, not from scandal, but from a hollowness that threatens to consume its entire mandate. Keir Starmer promises a government of service, yet delivers a tenure defined by retreating ambitions and a policy agenda that shrinks the moment it touches sunlight.

When the political autopsy is finally performed on this administration, the cause of death will not be the Peter Mandelson affair or the endless U-turns that have come to define the government's rhythm. These are merely symptoms of a deeper, terminal condition. The grim reality dawning on ministers, backbenchers, and the electorate alike is that there is simply less to Keir Starmer than meets the eye. He was elected just 19 months ago, yet he already carries the spectral aura of an ex-prime minister, haunting Number 10 rather than inhabiting it.

The Great Policy Vanishing Act

Every major pledge from the manifesto has undergone a process of aggressive miniaturisation. The celebrated Green New Deal was jettisoned with barely a whimper. The Employment Rights Act, once heralded as a new charter for workers, has been diluted to the point of irrelevance. Even the promise to end feudal leasehold laws has suddenly sprouted caveats and delays. The achievements ministers recite in robotic unison are equally thin. They boast of extended childcare, which was actually a parting gift from Rishi Sunak, and the scrapping of the two-child benefit cap, a policy forced upon a reluctant Downing Street by its own rebellious MPs.

Attempts to define "Starmerism" have become a cottage industry for desperate pundits. Writers have scoured his past, from his legal career to his childhood home in Surrey, searching for a coherent philosophy. They have returned empty-handed. Starmerism is not a political ideology; it is a failing business model based on shrinking the product while hoping the customer does not notice. It is a strategy that leads inevitably to political bankruptcy.

The Lobbying Hypocrisy

The Prime Minister's latest attempt to regain the initiative involves a solemn vow to purge Westminster of lobbyists. This declaration would be laughable if it were not so cynical. His own government is teeming with the very influence peddlers he claims to despise. Jacqui Smith, sent out to defend the administration, was a lobbyist until Starmer hired her. Alan Milburn, the jobs tsar, has amassed a fortune estimated at over 1.4 billion Kenyan Shillings from lobbying activities. Jim Murphy runs a lobbying firm that acted as a launchpad for two current Labour MPs.

• The McSweeney Myth: The legend of chief of staff Morgan McSweeney is also crumbling under scrutiny. Hailed as a master strategist, his resume is riddled with inconsistencies.
• The Barking Fabrication: McSweeney is credited as the hero of the 2010 battle against the BNP in Barking. Yet, key organisers and seasoned anti-fascists from that campaign do not recall him playing a significant role.
• The Vacuum of Power: Mandelson himself texted Wes Streeting to say the government's problems do not stem from communications. He was right. The problem is that there is nothing to communicate.

As the government promises that Starmer will now be "unleashed," the public should brace for disappointment. You cannot unleash a force that does not exist. The Prime Minister is not a sleeping giant waiting to be awoken; he is a man shrinking into the furniture of his own office. For a leader who promised to restore integrity and ambition to British politics, the legacy is shaping up to be one of profound emptiness.