The Labour Party under Andy Burnham

[brad465]

Seems like this will be the case, and another great example of Labour imploding within and giving the opposition all the ammunition they need. Now you'll be getting all the bots telling the people that if he goes, he must call a general election and that it's somehow undemocratic not to. Obviously not true, but nobody cares about the truth anymore.

Labour have nothing to lose at this point with current polling. It's already rock bottom and the alternatives are clearly not very popular either as their support is only marginally higher or even slightly lower. Labour could probably improve their poll ratings by making Andrew Windsor leader.

 

[Cowley]

...but Streeting comes across as a smarmy so and so and, in my opinion will do absolutely nothing to reconnect with all the 'progressive' voters who have left Labour....and is there anything more to come out about his relationship with Mandelson?

I feel like whatever way you look at it the talent pool isn’t particularly deep? I wanted this government to succeed because I increasingly feel like they might be the last government for a while who try and govern for the widest section of the population.

Genuine question, who do you think they should go for?

 

[brad465]

I feel like whatever way you look at it the talent pool isn’t particularly deep? I wanted this government to succeed because I increasingly feel like they might be the last government for a while who try and govern for the widest section of the population.

Genuine question, who do you think they should go for?

Junior Minister Al Cairns. Outsider whose military service record brings credibility and makes certain opposition attack lines hard to land. He has been considered a contender in some circles since the end of last year, but whether he personally wants to go for it and has parliamentary support is another matter.

 

[Peterthegreat]

Dan Jarvis was touted as a future labour leader a few years ago but seems to have gone quiet.

 

[Cowley]

Junior Minister Al Cairns. Outsider whose military service record brings credibility and makes certain opposition attack lines hard to land. He has been considered a contender in some circles since the end of last year, but whether he personally wants to go for it and has parliamentary support is another matter.

Dan Jarvis was touted as a future labour leader a few years ago but seems to have gone quiet.

If Starmer goes what happens next? Is there likely to be a few candidates and a whittling down process?

 

[WelshBluebird]

...but Streeting comes across as a smarmy so and so and, in my opinion will do absolutely nothing to reconnect with all the 'progressive' voters who have left Labour....and is there anything more to come out about his relationship with Mandelson?

Indeed, and maybe whilst it doesnt matter much for the wider population, Streeting especially has managed to alienate a lot of the urban young progressives who Labour are losing to the Greens due to his stance on trans issues. Again not commenting on the rights and wrongs there, more that Labour are losing lots of votes to the left and Streeting will make that worse. If that effect would be less than any positives he could bring - i am not sure.

 

[Broucek]

Indeed, and maybe whilst it doesnt matter much for the wider population, Streeting especially has managed to alienate a lot of the urban young progressives who Labour are losing to the Greens due to his stance on trans issues. Again not commenting on the rights and wrongs there, more that Labour are losing lots of votes to the left and Streeting will make that worse. If that effect would be less than any positives he could bring - i am not sure.

But is lurching to the left a better idea? I suspect Reform would have done better still if Rayner were PM....

 

[AlterEgo]

Vultures circling. Cabinet split apparently about whether to keep Starmer. He may well survive but this is a big storm now.

 

[Harpo]

But is lurching to the left a better idea? I suspect Reform would have done better still if Rayner were PM....

Reform will claim a win anyway as their (council!) election material called on people to vote Reform to get rid of Starmer.

Once there’s a new PM, Labour MPs in Westminster cannot afford to be fragmented as Reform will then be pushing for a general election.

 

[Bevan Price]

In fact Frank Cousins won the Nuneaton By-election. Maybe you are thinking of Patrick Gordon Walker, Wilson's Shadow Foreign Secretary, who lost his seat at Smethwick in the 1964 General Election. Wilson nevertheless appointed him Foreign Secretary and he was parachuted into the safe Labour seat of Leyton for a by-election in January 1965. He lost and Wilson had to replace him as Foreign Secretary. He subsequently won the Leyton seat at the 1966 General Election.

Thanks for the correction.

 

[weeklycommuter]

If Starmer goes what happens next? Is there likely to be a few candidates and a whittling down process?

The Labour Government is unpopular because of the cost of living crisis whose causes include leaving the European Single Market, the doubling of the national debt in the last twenty years and the failure to end dependence on fossil fuels whose price is totally outside this country's control. These problems will take a considerable time to solve but this Labour Government has at least been moving in the right direction, including moving towards ending the dependence on fossil fuels.

Labour MPs will not fix the unpopularity of the Labour Government or help their re-election prospects by forcing the Prime Minister to resign.

Whoever becomes Prime Minister instead will be at least as unpopular as the current Prime Minister, even more if the cost of living crisis is made even worse by an adverse reaction on financial markets to this political instability.

I recall twenty years ago some in the Labour Party thought that replacing Tony Blair with Gordon Brown would make the Labour Government at the time popular again and enable them to win the following general election. It did not.

I have to wonder why anyone would be interested in taking over as Prime Minister at this time as surely they must know that they would instantly become at least as unpopular as the current Prime Minister.

 

[The Ham]

He has said he will nationalise British Steel subject to a public interest test. It's an odd choice to nationalise give I don't think it was high up on the list of priorities for the public in regards nationalisation.

If the Railways are anything to go by then I am not sure it will help him. Public awareness of railway nationalisation seems to be low.

It's an image thing though, (British Steel) supporting British jobs in towns which otherwise could go the way of the coal mine towns if the big employer leaves town.

There's not the same parallels with GBR.

It's also something which Reform wouldn't likely do and is likely hoped to highlight how Labour are more interested in doing that than a tax cut for the rich.

Indeed, and maybe whilst it doesnt matter much for the wider population, Streeting especially has managed to alienate a lot of the urban young progressives who Labour are losing to the Greens due to his stance on trans issues. Again not commenting on the rights and wrongs there, more that Labour are losing lots of votes to the left and Streeting will make that worse. If that effect would be less than any positives he could bring - i am not sure.

Also, see the feedback from some within the NHS on his time as Health Secretary.

 

[thenorthern]

It's an image thing though, (British Steel) supporting British jobs in towns which otherwise could go the way of the coal mine towns if the big employer leaves town.

There's not the same parallels with GBR.

It's also something which Reform wouldn't likely do and is likely hoped to highlight how Labour are more interested in doing that than a tax cut for the rich.

In the interest of fairness, Nigel Farage called for British Steel to be nationalised in 2025.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said the government's plan was just a "short-term sticking plaster".

He added that his party would try to amend the emergency legislation to nationalise British Steel immediately, calling public ownership "the only option we have to save this vital strategic asset".

British Steel: Government aims to take control with emergency law

Parliament will be recalled for a rare Saturday sitting in a bid to save the company's owner from closing the site.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[styles]

In the interest of fairness, Nigel Farage called for British Steel to be nationalised in 2025.

In all honesty, it should've been done in the interest of national security years ago.

 

[The Ham]

In the interest of fairness, Nigel Farage called for British Steel to be nationalised in 2025.

OK, fair enough, that was something that I missed.

 

[martin butler]

Whoever replaces Starmer will face overwhelming demands to call a snap general election, and they won't be able to ignore it, thats the media owners plan, get rid of Starmer, cause enough trouble so there's a general election, get their puppet in, they get what they want, scrap civil rights, pull us out of the ECHR,

set us against each other, whilst ripping the countries fabric apart, and pocketing vast sums from their mates in tax cuts, they won't care about ripping the heart out of the country, most of them don't even live here, some are financed by unfriendly countries. with the purpose being to damage us and undermine law and order, whilst the hard of learning, clap on the sidelines like so many demented seals,

Untrained right wing thugs, rounding up people based on how they look, camps, where guards can abuse, where conditions grow worse as the numbers outstrip what can be safely accommodated, people will die, in these camps, but if you dehumanise people you won't care, it becomes acceptable. Because your somehow the better type of human, than those you despise.

 

[Snow1964]

Whoever replaces Starmer will face overwhelming demands to call a snap general election, and they won't be able to ignore it, thats the media owners plan, get rid of Starmer, cause enough trouble so there's a general election, get their puppet in, they get what they want, scrap civil rights, pull us out of the ECHR,

Regardless of what or when happens with Starmer, apart from usual calls for election, a general election is very unlikely to happen for at least 2.5 years. They need to steady the ship, not got to early election and get slaughtered.

Labour have a big majority currently and aren't going to waste that, even if they don't really do anything positive in next couple of years

 

[Bayum]

Infuriating behaviour from MPs. I don’t understand how they think any of this is going to be net positive for the Labour Party, especially when you will have Reform claiming victory in ousting Starmer when these are local elections.

 

[weeklycommuter]

Infuriating behaviour from MPs. I don’t understand how they think any of this is going to be net positive for the Labour Party, especially when you will have Reform claiming victory in ousting Starmer when these are local elections.

I agree.

 

[JamieL]

Infuriating behaviour from MPs. I don’t understand how they think any of this is going to be net positive for the Labour Party, especially when you will have Reform claiming victory in ousting Starmer when these are local elections.

They do seem remarkably disconnected from reality. A huge factor in the result of the 2024 was to end the chaos and melodrama of the Tories. Labour are now proposing the same. Another key factor was the election of a centrist party that, whilst it might do some social programmes, would ultimately keep things on a even keel. Instead, we now seem to be looking at a hard-left Government. The Parliamentary Labour Party's stupidity will deliver a Reform Government in the next few years with all the terrible consequences and ruin that will entail.

 

[Yew]

Instead, we now seem to be looking at a hard-left Government.

I think that's unlikely, Labour might move leftwards, but I think there is a long way between Labours current economic policies and the hard left.

 

[Purple Train]

Whoever replaces Starmer will face overwhelming demands to call a snap general election, and they won't be able to ignore it, thats the media owners plan,

And solely for this reason, this is why I think Starmer's timetable for resignation should end in 2029. Otherwise it's just going to be another Gordon Brown situation.

If he says he will lead the party until the next general election and then Burnham stands somewhere like Bootle in 2029 and becomes party leader, then that strikes me as a sensible plan that doesn't sacrifice Starmer to the gods of short-termism.

Honestly, though, I think the next Labour leader absolutely has to be a northerner - it's 50 years since we had an English Prime Minister who didn't speak Standard Southern British English, and I think even something as simple as having a northern PM would take the wind out of Reform's sails a little.

 

[martin butler]

And solely for this reason, this is why I think Starmer's timetable for resignation should end in 2029. Otherwise it's just going to be another Gordon Brown situation.

If he says he will lead the party until the next general election and then Burnham stands somewhere like Bootle in 2029 and becomes party leader, then that strikes me as a sensible plan that doesn't sacrifice Starmer to the gods of short-termism.

Honestly, though, I think the next Labour leader absolutely has to be a northerner - it's 50 years since we had an English Prime Minister who didn't speak Standard Southern British English, and I think even something as simple as having a northern PM would take the wind out of Reform's sails a little.

I think that will backfire All that would happen is that there's every chance that Burnham would be at best a leader of the opposition, Starmer is so unpopular, that IMHO, he will become an electoral liability what it neeeds is someone who isnt prown to making gaaffs, and isnt scared of doing whats needed

 

[Purple Train]

I think that will backfire All that would happen is that there's every chance that Burnham would be at best a leader of the opposition, Starmer is so unpopular, that IMHO, he will become an electoral liability what it neeeds is someone who isnt prown to making gaaffs, and isnt scared of doing whats needed

To be honest I think the result would be the same if the leadership contest happened now, because the right-wing media would scream about the next person being "unelected". Plus, it would give Reform an extra boost by making their daft local election headline come true. It would be a massive own goal to prove Reform right, more so than anything Starmer has done previously.

 

[jon0844]

They do seem remarkably disconnected from reality. A huge factor in the result of the 2024 was to end the chaos and melodrama of the Tories. Labour are now proposing the same. Another key factor was the election of a centrist party that, whilst it might do some social programmes, would ultimately keep things on a even keel. Instead, we now seem to be looking at a hard-left Government. The Parliamentary Labour Party's stupidity will deliver a Reform Government in the next few years with all the terrible consequences and ruin that will entail.

I think there are people within the party trying to shift things to the left, thinking Starmer is trying too hard to appease the (far) right. They'll also be willing to let themselves lose power entirely than compromise. I am sure we all have views on Keir Starmer and his lack of charisma and ability to communicate the good things Labour has done so far (there are websites that keep track of what they have done) but this self-destruction of the party, giving ammunition to the Tories, Reform and even the Republicans and people like Elon Musk is ridiculous. As said above, there will now be constant demands that this MUST lead to a general election for the state of democracy (false, and clearly neither the Tories or Reform would do this).

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 12 May 2026 ==

I think that's unlikely, Labour might move leftwards, but I think there is a long way between Labours current economic policies and the hard left.

Agreed. And because of that, there will be a number of people within the party willing to sabotage the entire party because of it. It's like when Momentum had taken hold of Jeremy Corbyn and made the party unelectable.

 

[SJL2020]

30-year gilt yields have this morning reached the highest level since July 1998.

 

[DarloRich]

Instead, we now seem to be looking at a hard-left Government.

That isn't realistic though is it? I know that social media witters on a about "Marxists" a lot but most people doing the wittering have no idea what a Marxist actually is!

A slight more left wing position is possible. A proper hard left position is one that has never, ever gain a foothold in British politics. Why? Because it is nonsense

it's 50 years since we had an English Prime Minister who didn't speak Standard Southern British English,

Harold Wilson? Huddersfield, Grammar school and Jesus College, Oxford.

I think even something as simple as having a northern PM would take the wind out of Reform's sails a little.

See above! I don't think accent is the key driver of success. The leader of Reform is about as Northern as a Martian!

 

[martin butler]

I think there are people within the party trying to shift things to the left, thinking Starmer is trying too hard to appease the (far) right. They'll also be willing to let themselves lose power entirely than compromise. I am sure we all have views on Keir Starmer and his lack of charisma and ability to communicate the good things Labour has done so far (there are websites that keep track of what they have done) but this self-destruction of the party, giving ammunition to the Tories, Reform and even the Republicans and people like Elon Musk is ridiculous. As said above, there will now be constant demands that this MUST lead to a general election for the state of democracy (false, and clearly neither the Tories or Reform would do this).

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 12 May 2026 ==



Agreed. And because of that, there will be a number of people within the party willing to sabotage the entire party because of it. It's like when Momentum had taken hold of Jeremy Corbyn and made the party unelectable.

This is why IMHO the government needs to enact leaverson right now, and expose just who is behind this media war, and why they are so intent on seeing Reform pushed into Downing street, it needs to go after Farage, expose his dodgy past, his deals with certain far right groups,

 

[Purple Train]

Harold Wilson? Huddersfield, Grammar school and Jesus College, Oxford.

What about him?

See above! I don't think accent is the key driver of success. The leader of Reform is about as Northern as a Martian!

I don't think so either, but I think it would help a little bit, given Starmer tends to be seen as posh and out of touch in Reform-voting areas... and yes, the cognitive dissonance is outstanding, but I don't think going northern would harm Labour more than it'd help them. The optimist in me would hope that a northern Labour leader could out-flatcap Farage, although I realise that's a hopeless proposition.

 

[brad465]

30-year gilt yields have this morning reached the highest level since July 1998.

I think the current bond crisis is decades in the making: selling off state assets and outsourcing a lot of key industry, without properly investing in alternatives, started this. Then the banking crisis created the "too big to fail" concept and encouraged state bailouts, which combined with the former created a deficit-based model for "managing" an economy. Covid exacerbated this, which then led to inflation and higher interest rates. Liz Truss's actions then "crossed the Rubicon", now the bond markets are on edge all the time, and this is creating a very difficult environment in which to invest where we need to invest to reverse the whole situation. What's happening in the bond market now in response to leadership uncertainty would not be an issue if we were more resilient as a whole.