The Tories have forfeited their right to rule. Labour has earned the right to serve

A little over 14 years ago, the new prime minister of the Conservative-dominated coalition government, David Cameron, declared on the steps of 10 Downing Street that he would “provide this country with the strong, the stable, the good and decent government that ... we need so badly”.

The past decade and a half has not been one of uninterrupted failures, lies, sleaze and division – but life under the Conservatives has certainly not lived up to the expectations raised at the time of the last four general elections and five prime ministers. The public is familiar with the arguments and lived through these turbulent, divisive, epochal years. Their minds are made up.

The polls suggest – and ministers concede – the British people are about to pass judgement on the whole of the Tories’ time in office. Rishi Sunak, who has only been fully in charge since October 2022, would prefer it if people focused more on his time and the choice he presents to them about the future. No doubt they will weigh his performance in the balance, flawed as it is, but the verdict is going to be negative – and the punishment for failure, harsh. Exactly how harsh is really the only thing that remains uncertain.

The Conservatives are right to plead that they have, in the latter period of their rule, had to face up to the challenges of Brexit (albeit that was a calamity visited on the nation principally by themselves), a once-in-a-century pandemic and a twin energy and security crisis triggered by Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. Those events drove debt and taxes far higher than they would otherwise have been.

But, as the years dragged on, the party became less and less able to respond competently to the problems it faced, culminating in the disastrous Liz Truss mini-Budget and the totemically useless Rwanda asylum plan, something Mr Sunak inexplicably turned into a personal crusade. The pointless hardships of the “all in this together” austerity years, the Windrush scandal, the PPE scams, Partygate, the honeytraps, the “bad people” sex scandals, the election betting affair, and countless other instances of sleaze added to an impression that the party was out of touch, over-entitled and, in some instances, hypocritical and corrupt.

Absurd phantasmagorical creatures such as Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg, Mark Francois, Matt Hancock (and his paramour Gina Coladangelo), Suella Braverman, Jonathan Gullis, Lee Anderson, Neil “tractor porn” Parish, Nadine Dorries and Dominic Cummings flitted through our national consciousness, as if in a nightmare. Even now – some already departed, most of the rest soon to get their P45s – they are enough to make any floating voter shudder. The Tory party is exhausted, and the electorate is exhausted by them.

Labour was shrewd to use the Tory party’s long record in office during this election campaign, because the voters, or at least the remaining ones sympathetic to the Conservative cause, needed reminding about what went wrong, who was responsible – and who played the price. Theresa May and Lord Cameron mistimed and misjudged parliament and the electorate over Brexit.

Boris Johnson was the most mendacious premier of all time, and purged his divided party of its liberal, pro-European elements, leaving it badly unbalanced and mesmerised by Nigel Farage – while Ms Truss was the most reckless PM of the modern age.

Mr Sunak had a toxic legacy. It was probably asking too much for him to reverse his party’s failings, and he made his own mistakes in any case. When the music stopped, he was unfortunate enough to be the one carrying the electoral baby.

The Independent has endorsed Labour at this election because the case for change is simply too compelling to ignore – and Sir Keir Starmer and his team is the only alternative administration on offer. The Tories have forfeited their right to rule, and too often abused their power. Labour, so strenuously rebuilt and repositioned after the debacle of the Corbyn years, has earned its right to serve.

No doubt Sir Keir will promise something like what Lord Cameron promised in 2010 about strength, stability, and good and decent government. He too should be held to his word, and he will certainly have the parliamentary majority to get things done – restoring public services, growing the economy, strengthening the UK’s defences.

It is to Sir Keir’s credit that he has managed to turn the Labour Party from a toxic and unelectable presence to one of promise and achievement. We only hope he will now do the same with UK Inc.