Starmer: the speed & length of the political speech.
The Times does sometimes carry interesting journalism when it is not just cutting and pasting pieces from its sister paper the S*n and adding some more words.
Its analysis of how quickly politicians speak (6th January) is an example.
Its aim is to underline that Starmer is a boring speaker, which in my view he is, but in the context of the times I’d rather have that than the hyperbole of Farage. The content of either person’s speech is another matter.
The Times has analysed how many words a minute politicians have uttered in well known speeches (I’m not sure the analysis is that that accurate but the comparison remains interesting)
Words per minute
Churchill (Iron Curtain) 1946,105
Macmillan (Winds of Change) 1960, 108
Thatcher (The Lady’s Not for Turning) 1980, 106
Tony Blair (average) 105
The Tory Years
Dave Cameron, 118.6
Theresa May, 119
Boris Johnson, 122.5
Keir Starmer, (Conference Speech, Sept 24), 101
The speed up in the Tory years may reflect an understanding that people were willing to listen for less time than previously having many other distractions.
I prefer people who speak slowly and clearly (I am not an example) but it is not just the speed of speaking but the length.
I’ve convened a seminar at the Institute of Historical Research at the University of London for 30 years. Until 2020 it was exclusively in person. 20 years ago someone presenting a paper might speak for over an hour. In 2025 I advise in person speakers to keep to 45-50 minutes and those on Zoom to 30-40 minutes. It might be argued that attention and concentration spans are less.
However if one thinks of a public speech as in part theatre, there are now many other theatrical amusements
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