Up until the very end, Labour's leadership was astounded by their potential for a historic election triumph. Despite consistent polls over the past year indicating Keir Starmer would reach Number 10, concerns loomed that something could still go awry.
For some, it echoed back to 1992 when polls predicted Neil Kinnock's ascension to power, only for John Major and his Conservatives to prevail in the end. For others, anxiety arose from fear of having lost the capacity to secure a victory after 14 years away from governance.
In the last century, only three Labour leaders have ever led their party to an election win – Clement Attlee, Harold Wilson, and Tony Blair. The most recent one happened almost two decades ago. No opposition leader has managed to turn around a landslide defeat into a majority in just a single term.
"I can't help it," confessed a member of the Shadow Cabinet. "Even though everything points towards Labour winning, I still have nightmares."
