I think it's an especially strange case with Starmer. He came late to politics and admits he's not especially political (!?).
He comes from a world of law where there's clearly defined rules, everything is black or white, up or down, right or wrong.
Stepping outside that reality into a world where people like Farage, Johnson and Trump are popular, must be a mind fuck.
Reminds me of a boss I once had. He talked like Johnny Cab from Total Recall. He was organised and good with numbers etc. But we got moved under a new department which was more creative and the big boss fancied himself as "creative".
In his first meeting he said in passing to Johnny Cab that he didn't like formal clothes, so the next day Johnny came in in a pair of red jeans. Red.
You could tell, it was just a world he didn't understand, and people thought it was funny as fuck.