Major was actually great in front of a crowd (or in a crowd, standing on his soap box!), and thrived when faced with hecklers. Starmer, by contrast, is good in small groups and one-on-one - he really shone in podcasts and "chatty" interviews.

Both are pretty charismatic in their preferred settings. Neither is a "complete package", but that's common in British politics, and you can certainly see why they won their party's leadership and led them to general election victories.

May, by contrast, really did lack charisma. A decent, principled administrator but far from being a people person. She became party leader in the chaotic period immediately after Brexit, winning by default after her rivals imploded. I don't think she'd have come first (or even second) in a properly-contested vote.

Major never recovered from rumours that he tucked his shirt into his underpants.