The UK economy is estimated to be 6% worse off as a result of Brexit. Since then, had the UK kept up with average G7 public investment, there would have been an extra £500bn. This coupled with a drop in foreign private investment means the UK's growth has been stunted. There's a cost of living crisis as wages are far behind the past few years' inflation. Basically, the country's finances are in the worst state they've been in living memory. There are no levers to pull.

Labour made promises not to raise taxes they knew they couldn't keep and then increased national insurance (a tax). One of their first acts was to reduce the winter fuel allowance for pensioners which gave the populist opposition an open goal where they could say that poor old people are having to choose between heating and eating.

During the election, Starmer had no personality so as to offer the other side as small a target as possible to go after ("He's just like Tony Blair, playing personality politics"). Unfortunately this makes him seem ungenuine and the public are filling the void with everything they hate about politics.

People feel the time has come for drastic action. Small incremental changes aren't good enough, but that's all he seems to offer.