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How brutal is the political life. Look around that cabinet table: every minister is facing extremely difficult portfolios lacking the resources to do what they understand is needed.

What they were handed was even more ruinous than feared: they were left with traps, dishonest traps and gaping holes. Brexit is showing itself as even more economically crippling than predicted, currently costing the exchequer £80bn a year.

The Difficulties Accumulating

They face poor fortune: the Trump destroyer coincided with their watch. What greater disaster than a prison officer releasing a rejected refugee sex offender? Migrant crossings feel unstoppable.

An unfortunate deputy leadership election right now was bound to give Keir Starmer a difficult time. The eleven percent support at the Welsh assembly byelection might not even be their lowest point.

They expect brickbats, but they have feelings. Frequently, Wes Streeting boldly states the obvious truth: that we're experiencing "deep disillusionment in this country at the moment" and "a growing sense of despair about whether anyone is capable of turning this country round".

Public Opinion Baffles

Yet, even so, the contemporary bitter state of popular sentiment is perplexing and alarming. Keir Starmer is the least popular prime minister ever. Really?

He represents a decent, serious man of good intentions, without undue arrogance or self-importance. Compare that with Boris Johnson, Liz Truss, or the relaxed confidence of David Cameron, all with so little to justify conceited self-confidence.

Leadership Challenges

Yet, the public argues, Starmer is worse. As the nation's leader, he demonstrates little charisma, observers note: more seriously, he is missing political agility, ingenuity or understanding of where the wind blows.

The government mishandled over cuts for pensioners and disabled people, offset by spending increases in other areas. Unclear about their core constituency, ministers have permitted good policies unpromoted, covering labor rights to sustainable development, new towns and training opportunities for the next generation.

Electoral Approach

Numerous senior advisors continue to believe the Daily Mail-inflected right demands attention, when almost twice as many voters have shifted progressive since the election was won. Election expert the polling authority cautions leadership to stop chasing populist constituency: they've gone.

Labour's leader is underperforming; there's no denying it when surveys indicate no leader could recover from such unprecedented lows.

But in the uncharted waters of significant fluctuation, past experience might not apply. The leader extracted Labour from a post-Jeremy Corbyn state of despair that c conventional wisdom suggested couldn't be fixed in a single parliament.

Possible Outcomes

Could another leader do better, or have we reached an almost impossible to govern, insatiable public state of mind? All ruling parties may be dismissed equally quickly once in power, however great its landslide victory, only if it appears with immediate solutions offering substantial benefits for underfunded government departments and financially strained households.

Unsurprisingly, anxiety among MPs will make conversation regarding new leadership rife if May's elections go according to negative projections – or, some suggest, sooner.

The Way Forward

Here's ministers' paradox: Labour's only hope emerges from difficulty. Prepare for being overwhelmed anyway, so employ their parliamentary advantage for four more years to follow their natural social democratic instinct: make radical tax reforms, generating substantial revenue.

Anticipate defeat the next election, so take decisive action currently. Ignore survey results and focus groups; enable the public to witness genuine commitment. The exclusive approach to rebuild credibility is to do transparently what they believe most correct and reasonable.

• Public trust has become vital to protect the country from calamity
• The clear signal from the recent election showed the strong "stop Reform" sentiment
• Over 60% of unusually high engagement uniting to keep Faragists out
• That requires mass tactical voting for the strongest progressive option

The Finance Minister rightly calls Reform "the single greatest threat" to British values. As the opposition effectively combine with Reform, a voting agreement of particular nature approaches.

The government's responsibility is to implement required actions to stop this development. Prepare for coalition, stay suitable for allied groups when party affiliations becomes secondary to the fundamental boundary against a governance risk unprecedented in modern history.

That's a purpose to drive out despair.