My leftie friends are boiling with rage at the Conservative Party, which they see as greedy, self-serving, incompetent, cruel and corrupt. You don't have to be a London liberal to think that, of course. It's pretty much the UK’s default position after 14 years of underwhelming Tory rule.

I can hear my chums humming ‘Things can only get better…’ under their breath as they down another glass of Sauvignon Blanc.

If I dare to suggest that not every challenge the country faces is the fault of those evil Tories, they glare at me in horror, as if I've asked to eat their children.

Then they reel off another 100 reasons why Conservative rule has ruined everything, while I nod politely to keep the peace.

They’ll no doubt upgrade their Sauvignon to Champagne on July 4 when the polling results roll in and Starmer takes power, as seems almost certain.

I hope they enjoy themselves. Seriously. Because their joy won't last long.

Every problem we face will still be there when the blearily wake up next day. Only one thing will have changed. Suddenly they will all be Starmer's fault.

At this point, rather than standing by their man, my righteous friends will stick the knife into him instead.

It's what they did to Tony Blair after his mightly 1997 landslide. Within days, they were slating every policy decision, writing anguished pieces in The Guardian accusing New Labour of betrayal.

It will be the same with Starmer. In fact, the process has already started.

Many on the left loathe and revile Starmer almost as much as the Tories. In the case of star commentator Owen Jones, possibly even more.

They can't forgive him for ousting their hero Jeremy Corbyn, seeing off Momentum entryists, tackling anti-semitism in the party, and worst of all, making Labour electoral.

And they never will. Starmer has betrayed all of their unrealistic dreams of what a proper, left-wing Labour government could do in power.

They will moan and moan throughout the next Parliament and possibly the one after that until they bring him down. Just like they did with Blair.

Too many on the left prefer the luxury of carping about the government, which makes them feel good, rather than defending tough politicial decisions, which doesn't.

And the truth is, the next five years are going to be bloomin’ hard. Yes, much of that is the fault of Tory leaders David Cameron, Boris Johnson, Theresa May, Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak.

But not all of it.

The UK has barely grown since the financial crisis, which happened on Gordon Brown's watch.

The pandemic and energy shock have wreaked havoc, but the Tories didn't cause either of them, they just had to cope with the fallout.

We also have serious structural problems, as the population ages while 5.6million people of working age live on benefits.

There are no easy answers, and Starmer knows this. Many Labour voters kid themselves otherwise.

Starmer will struggle to solve the housing crisis, shrink NHS waiting lists, sort out social care, cure poverty, deliver world peace and save the planet.

And the left won't forgive him for it.

They will constantly demand he spends money on every pet project that comes to their attention. And every time he doesn't – because there isn't any money – they'll cry betrayal and wish Corbyn was running the show.

My good, kind, clever liberal friends are going to be up in arms, almost from day one. I almost feel sorry for Starmer. There's no placating them.

The Tories – if there are any left – may find they enjoy being out of power far more than they expect.

Labour supporters are going to hate it every minute of it. They’ll need something far stiffer than Sauvignon Blanc to see them through the next five years.