In the wake of Angela Rayner’s departure, Number 10 has carried out a swift and drama-free reshuffle that is all about delivery, but they shouldn’t congratulate themselves too soon.
While they focus on pragmatism, political forces that have been threatening to destabilise the entire Starmer project are about to be unleashed.
Firstly, the Labour party itself, which has always been an unwieldy beast, is getting ready to bite.
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With Rayner’s exit, Number 10 has lost its working-class human shield, its bridge between the party and the prime minister, and the northern woman who made its pale, male leader more palatable to a sizable section of the movement.
Any dwindling loyalty from the left was largely linked to her and, in her absence, there will be no holding back.
And for Sir Keir’s critics, they have the perfect vehicle to air their grievances – a potentially drawn-out and damaging deputy leadership contest, which could easily overshadow the forthcoming conference.
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All of which will prompt a weary electorate to wonder if this really is a whole new public-facing Labour party or if the relentless infighting was simply paused while they secured power.
This takes us to the next big obstacle of the local elections in May which, as things stand, will see them hammered from all sides.
Much has been made of the Reform surge, but in reality the threat surrounds them, with the Greens likely to take big chunks of their support and the independent Muslim vote also threatening to eat into some of their most reliable heartlands, not to mention Jeremy Corbyn’s new political project, which will make plenty of noise if nothing else.
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This could push them from slightly unstable into some very serious soul searching, as the next general election edges closer and the record number of MPs with slim majorities get increasingly jittery.
It is at that potentially precarious moment that the prime minister will need a figure like Rayner and find that he doesn’t have one.
At that point, the pragmatism over politics approach that has defined this reshuffle might not feel that smart after all.
