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I was wondering (again) if politicians in these modern times need a certain sex appeal in order to be noticeable or taken to be trustworthy.
I know past male prime ministers have not always been an oil painting eg Harold Wilson or Winston Churchill but then they were not photographed as much with the limitations of paper newspapers etc.
Were David Cameron or Tony Blair successful because they were youngish and handsome. They had that little twinkle in the eyes that people might have found appealing. Compare to Michael Foot and his shambling appearance and his lack of success.
Keir Starmer, to my mind, looks boring and stolid and not the dynamic leader we need to get us out of this rut we are in.
Do you think a physical image is more important than policies these days? Love to hear your thoughts.
Anniebach
Why so wrong for Starmer to have a million, why can he not be
a true Labour Party member !
Tony Benn owned a large London house and a country estate, was he not a true socialist?
recent estimates are over £7 million actually.
grumppa
They need to inspire trust. From face to face meetings, I would certainly put John Smith in that category, but no Conservative front bencher I can think of, except perhaps John Major.
John Smith and Alan Johnson were the only Labour politicians I respected.
They need to inspire trust. From face to face meetings, I would certainly put John Smith in that category, but no Conservative front bencher I can think of, except perhaps John Major.
Why so wrong for Starmer to have a million, why can he not be
a true Labour Party member !
Tony Benn owned a large London house and a country estate, was he not a true socialist?
Primrose53
But millionaire Keir prefers to suggest his father was much more humble.
Casdon yes I know that so why hasn’t KS ever said “I am proud of my Dad because he had his own toolmaking company which he built up himself rather than working for other people.”
I think it's really a case of he's going to be damned regardless of what he says or how he says it about his background.
If you don't like someone's politics, it's not difficult to find ways to discredit them.
Chestnut
Dickens
Chestnut
pascal30 Keir Starmer is further left than Corbyn which I think we will soon find out. He also doesn't know what a woman is.
Keir Starmer is further left than Corbyn...
Is he?
How?We'll probably just have to wait and see, and if he becomes PM then watch that space.
We'll probably just have to wait and see, and if he becomes PM then watch that space.
... so no evidence or information to back up Keir Starmer is further left than Corbyn then?
Just a hunch?
I questioned your statement Chestnut because - although not a great fan of the man myself - I haven't seen anything that would indicate he's more left than JC. Coupled with which, I've read quite a few social-media complaints from Corbyn-fans and supporters who are convinced Starmer is basically a Tory with a red rosette.
I just thought maybe you knew something we (and they) didn't.
I believe for some, Corbyn was very much too left wing and we seem to be more a middle-of-the-road nation of voters, so it would've been interesting to discover what makes Starmer more left-wing than even Corbyn.
Ah apologies, primrose
I imagined some much bigger set up for some reason.
Casdon
Labour Heartlands is a political blog from the far left, not a reliable source of information.
All thats available Casdon: a spiteful and nasty piece of writing too:
we don't know for example what is likely, that Starmer senior started off as an apprentice working for a firm - he couldn't have started off without some sort of longish training for those skills, then developed as a skilled tradesman as a one man band. As wiki says, a toolmaker.
I so agree MayBee , he does want to make this country a better place, he doesn’t have a flashy smile, play games with umbrellas, I truly believe he a honest man.
Callistemon21
MayBee70
Well, he is further left in a way in that, unlike Corbyn he is actually from a working class background. So imo he has proper socialist values but is pragmatic about how far to implement them.
Corbyn was middle-class, not upper class.
His mother went to university which was fairly unusual for women in those days, but she did work as a teacher.
Well he in my eyes he was upper middle class because he lived in a Manor House and went to prep school.
And could be richer and have a much easier life if he’d not turned to politics. Which I, personally, think he did because he wants to make this country a better place.
He had a very distant relationship with his father.
I think it’s about scale. Owning a company doesn’t make you rich, or middle class. Self employed plumbers, painters etc. may employ a few people, a self employed upholsterer may own a premise, but don’t make a fortune, and that’s the scale Starmer’s father was operating at - there are hundreds of thousands of similar businesses in the UK.
MissAdventure
It's strange that a company's house representative has said there has never been any record of starmers father as having a company.
No it’s not. If he was a sole trader his company does not have to register.
A millionaire.
Wow, and all his own hard work.
That's to be admired
But millionaire Keir prefers to suggest his father was much more humble.
Casdon yes I know that so why hasn’t KS ever said “I am proud of my Dad because he had his own toolmaking company which he built up himself rather than working for other people.”
Companies house would be a far better source... and...
Labour Heartlands is a political blog from the far left, not a reliable source of information.
Primrose and I used the same source.
Why are these specific differences in background between these two supposed to make them "leftier or rightier"?
Their policies are what they are now in middle age.
To set the record straight on Starmer, Starmer’s father, in reality, operated the Oxted Tool Co. His own independent toolmaking enterprise until the 1990s.
By all accounts, he was a proficient self-employed tradesman, operating from a rented workshop on an industrial estate rather than a conventional factory setting.
Yes I've read that.
It provides no proof.
Primrose53
MissAdventure
It's strange that a company's house representative has said there has never been any record of starmers father as having a company.
It was long before records were kept.
Starmer’s father is on record as saying young Keir worked in his company when he was young.
A company can be a one man band?
Pre 1844 then? 
MissAdventure
It's strange that a company's house representative has said there has never been any record of starmers father as having a company.
It was long before records were kept.
Starmer’s father is on record as saying young Keir worked in his company when he was young.
It's strange that a company's house representative has said there has never been any record of starmers father as having a company.
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