I think he is playing a poor hand badly, he has ostracised the left and the handling of the report into central office and the pay outs has been nothing short of shameful.
As for him not entering Downing street, i do not think he will get the chance to fight an election. The Labour party as it stands is finished, it is too London centric, it is too liberal and it is too middle class. It has morphed from a Democratic Socialist party to a Social Democratic party and i just can't see the left of the party holding their nose and voting for Starmer because the feelings of betrayal run deep and Starmer rather than deal with those responsible by kicking them out has paid them off. There are people who actively campaigned against Labour still in the party and halfwits like Kinnock and Austin make me sick.
The one thing on Starmers side is he wont get a rough ride from the media, simply because he is no threat to the establishment and a Starmer led Labour party i expect will not be harsh on corporate interests because they paid for his campaign to be labour leader.