Want to see off Farage, Sir Keir? There’s one thing you need...

The extraordinary poll showing Reform UK has overtaken the Labour Party in popularity can be attributed to many factors.

A hostile response to Labour’s £40bn tax grab in the Budget; a series of missteps by Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves – and a lack of any overall sense of direction – are just three. But the survey has also thrown into perspective a glaring difference between Starmer and Reform leader Nigel Farage. Unlike Farage, Starmer suffers from a political condition: “amsirahc” – charisma, spelt backwards.

When Starmer won his landslide election victory in July, his supporters made a virtue of his lack of glitz and glamour. After all, hadn’t Britain had quite enough of that after blustering bungling showman Boris Johnson and vacuous Liz Truss with her photo stunts as a pound shop Maggie Thatcher in a tank?

Down-to-earth toolmaker’s son Starmer would bring back some desperately needed old-fashioned common sense, stability, clarity and consistency. Except... it hasn’t worked out like that. Such is the air of confusion, that after less than six months in power, Starmer had to “reset” his objectives last week – announcing six “milestones” he plans to achieve by the next election.

If a prime minister is doing a good job, he will be forgiven for lacking a sprinkling of stardust. Starmer’s own Labour hero, post-Second World War prime minister Clement Attlee, was as unexciting as they come.

Someone once said of him: “An empty taxi cab pulled up and out stepped Clement Attlee.” But it didn’t stop Attlee from going down in history as one of the greats, by setting up the NHS.

It is harsh to pass judgment on Starmer so soon. But it is the case that – along with a sense of political drift – he has a decidedly grey and worn-out look about him. Gone are the days when there was talk that as a dashing young lawyer, he was the inspiration for actor Colin Firth’s character Mark Darcy in Bridget Jones’s Diary. Quite the opposite!

Starmer got dreadful reviews for his toe-curlingly awkward handling of the Downing Street Christmas tree lights switch on. It was so dire that it went viral on social media – with one commentator observing derisively: “The charisma and energy of a drying puddle.”

Compare and contrast limp Starmer with Farage and his cheeky chappy “pint of ale in hand” image. There is little doubt which of the two would be more fun to be with on a night out. Farage has charisma in spades.

He has one other big advantage: he is not in power and can offer what looks like easy solutions to highly complex problems. It doesn’t always work out like that – as we found out the hard way with Brexit. But Farage has recently received a new boost to his appeal: Whether you love or hate Donald Trump, there is no denying charisma played a part in his victory over Kamala Harris, another victim of the curse of “amsirahc”.

With talk of Trump fan Elon Musk bankrolling a bid by Trump’s friend Farage to win power in the UK, it is not surprising he is riding high in the polls. If worthy – but dull – Starmer wants to halt the rise of Reform, he can only do so by delivering results. If he does that, voters will forgive him for suffering from “amsirahc”.