Starmer left Healey in no doubt of the mountain they needed to climb when he was given the defence brief, according to a source close to the shadow secretary.
“He was told that people had lost faith in us on security and that if we didn’t get it back, they were not going to listen to us on the NHS, on education, on everything else,” the source adds.
“Fundamentally, voters need to believe you will keep the country safe – that is the first duty of the Government.”
Turning the situation around has involved big interventions from Starmer but also, behind the scenes, a four-year charm offensive in defence circles by Healey and his team, including shadow defence procurement minister Maria Eagle and shadow defence minister Steve McCabe (who is stepping down at this election).
While Starmer made clear his “unshakeable” support for the Nato military alliance and Britain’s nuclear deterrent, Healey hammered home the points in a series of speeches to defence wonks and at industry events with companies such as BAE Systems, Babcock, Leonardo UK and MBDA UK.
In boardrooms, the strategy seems to have worked. One senior defence industry lobbyist says: “They really do seem to have changed. There’s been a huge amount of engagement and John Healey and his team seem to really understand the brief.”
Crucially, Labour is said to have given several big companies reassurances about the continuation of major programmes they are currently involved in, not least the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP, also known as Tempest) – which is expected to come up for final Treasury approval as early as this year – and the Aukus nuclear submarines pact with the US and Australia.
The party’s proposals to focus on “Made in Britain” defence programmes where possible has also, unsurprisingly, gone down well.
“We definitely think we can work with them,” another defence company source says.
At the annual dinner of industry lobbying group ADS earlier this year, Alastair Campbell, the former spin-doctor to Tony Blair turned podcaster, stood on stage and asked his audience how many of them thought Rishi Sunak would still be prime minister in a year’s time.
Most of the assembled defence executives sat unmoving. The handful of government ministers who were in attendance made up the majority putting up their hands.
Also in the room were eight members of Labour’s frontbench, a sign of just how seriously the party regarded the industry.
Kevin Craven, chief executive of ADS, is careful not to praise one party over another but says the return to a more mainstream position within Labour is welcome: “The ability to make sound, pragmatic, geopolitical, tough decisions around how we provide nuclear deterrence is absolutely vital for our society and our nation.
“And you know, I welcome politicians on both sides recognising the reality that it’s not a nice world right now and we need the tools to defend ourselves.”
Healey has been working closely with David Lammy, the shadow foreign secretary. The pair often travel abroad together to deliver a joint message “making clear that diplomacy will be deeply integrated with security under a Labour government”, says Gaston at the Policy Exchange.
Having previously voted against renewing the UK’s nuclear deterrent in 2016, Lammy now seems to have undergone a striking conversion on the issue: An article he wrote for Foreign Affairs Magazine earlier this year heaped praise on Clement Attlee’s decision to acquire nuclear weapons and the Nato alliance.
He has championed a “pragmatic realism” approach to foreign and defence policy, which will see Britain primarily focused on European security but with growing partnerships in the Indo-Pacific – where China is rapidly bulking up its military presence.
At the same time, Labour has prioritised outreach to the Armed Forces themselves.
Under Healey, the membership group Labour Friends of the Forces has been revived and shadow ministers have pledged to renew the “moral contact” with service personnel who have put up with repeated pay freezes and crumbling accommodation buildings.
That, too, now seems to be paying off.
A Labour source says the number of party members who previously served in the Armed Forces has increased five-fold under Starmer – including at least 15 who will stand as parliamentary candidates for the party on July 4.
They include Colonel Alistair Carns, an ex-Marine standing in Birmingham Selly Oak, and Calvin Bailey CBE, a former commanding officer in the Royal Air Force standing in Leyton and Wanstead.
On concrete policy commitments, however, Healey and Starmer have been far more coy.
In speeches, Healey has promised to improve procurement. Aides point to fiascos such as the Army’s Ajax armoured fighting vehicle programme, which originally aimed to produce 589 vehicles by 2017 for £3.5bn but has delivered just 44 so far at a cost of £4bn.
He also wants to put a new defence industrial strategy at the heart of the MoD’s work, forcing officials to think more about retaining important sovereign capabilities in the UK and buying more “Made in Britain” kit.
“We see our steel sector, shipyards, aerospace and materials industries as national assets – and will ensure as much of our equipment as possible is designed and built here in the UK,” an internal party document seen by The Telegraph says.