Not an election please

I imagine there is some gnashing of teeth in the Labour Party (especially the parliamentary party) at being caught in such disarray over leadership, direction, policy. who is "in" and who is "out".
If anybody thought they had a clear 5 years to get ready for battle they seriously miscalculated.

Of course he is that stupid Beam. The policies are what matter most to him, not the Labour Party.
Hence why traditional Labour voter support has fallen away so badly.

I hope he will accept the folly of this as it would take Labour time out of electioneering alongside the others. You can't select just like that. There is a set process. Unfortunately, if you feel you and your supporters, are about to lose power big time it can lead you to foolish decisions. If Labour is to stand any chance we need to be campaigning from the start with the sitting candidates. We should only be selecting in constituencies where the sitting MP or former candidates have expressed a desire to stand down.

It's been announced that the Gorton by election will go ahead, even though whoever wins won't have a chance to take his/her seat. Corbyn's protege wasn't selected. Labour will almost certainly win, so Corbyn and/or Momentum doesn't have the final say. Labour will be able to use the by election as a dress rehearshal. I bet the returning officer for Gorton is thrilled (not) - I hope he/she hadn't been planning on a holiday.

Labour will possibly lose Bermondsey and Old Southwark (Neil Coyle's seat) anyway. It only needs a swing of 4% back to the LibDems.

Which policies do you disapprove of? I'm honestly beginning to think I'm more left wing than you are - and I'm only very soft left-wing.

Its a damn shame that Labour have alienated and lost loyal hard working members like Anniebach.

We must have been in an alternative universe today as we only just heard when a neighbour told us about half an hour ago!

He (the neighbour) I presume would be a staunch Labour supporter and thinks this will be the end of Corbyn.

Maw To be fair to her, Diane Abbott said a few weeks ago that Labour is ready for battle. Not sure she's the best person to be given the job of inspiring the troops, but Labour obviously realised it was a possibility.

I think it is fairly obvious why she would like an election now rather than wait out the full term. The Labour Party will be looking for another, more dynamic, leader before the normal date of the next GE, one who could revitalise the party, bring in voters from the wilderness they find themselves in under Corbyn, McDonnell and Momentum and perhaps win, a hopeless dream under the present leadership.

will be
sorry - would have been

Alan Johnson is to stand down, what a loss to the Labour Party , how many more will do the same ?

The last Conservative leader who took a gamble like this was Heath - and he lost!

I expect that's true Jalima, but waiting until boundary changes would have given the Conservatives an advantage.

I wonder how this will affect Scotland.

Anniebach I wasn't referring to parliament but to the backroom boys like the 1922 committee, who must have been responsible for the way Theresa came to be PM and who most likely told her when the election had to be.

Tom Blenkinsop is standing down .

I am in good company , I stood down from the chair last Saturday, someone said the only hope for labour was for Corbyn to have a massive heart attack, I couldn't take that anger and bitterness , the chap wouldn't withdraw his comment but his eyes were full of tears , he has been a member for many years, we worked through the wilderness years together . I have never known such anger as I now have for that baseball cap wearing militant

Hells Bells trisher are you one of Theresa Mays Inner Circle, you certainly make sweeping statements expressing your 'knowledge' of how Theresa May, the Tories think.

Trisher, at the moment I don't care what you meant , I am too distressed , you keep supporting that man who wants to destroy my party , just do not expect me to acknowledge you as a true Labour Party member , sorry

Too soon but if we all vote LIBDEM we may get some sanity. Under the fixed term parliament she needs 2/3 of MPs to vote for it so it may not happen.

Not very socialist of you, Annie.
It's trisher's party and Corbyn's party just as much as it is your party.

I saw Neil Kinnock not so long ago regretting that silly chant of his where he lost the election. It's not all Corbyn's fault.

I do wonder why any Labour MP who decides not to stand 'because ' of Corbyn is doing so using that as a reason.

If Corbyn is their problem then making the decision 'not to stand' simply gives Corbyn and advantage as he will no doubt replace them with a Momentum backed candidate. It saves him and Momentum having to 'deselect' the sitting MP they see as a problem , I wouldn't make Corbyn or Momentums life so easy, I would dig my heels in certainly not resign.

They will, Cindersdad.
No party will want to be seen as the one who stopped an election.
She didn't mention her backbenchers in her speech, but they are the ones she wants to be supporting her. There are about fifty of them who oppose her idea of Brexit.

Alan Johnson will be 67 next month. He probably doesn't want to be an MP when he's 70, which he will be if he stands.
He's been winding down for a long time. He's spoken in 5 debates in the last year and only voted in 55% of divisions.
Well below what he should be doing if he was a good working MP.

Poor old Alan, past his sell by date then.

POGS one doesn't need to be a member of Theresa's inner circle, only to have a working knowledge of how Margaret Thatcher was chosen, groomed and supported in her early days. Of course the problem with creating monsters is that they tend to run riot in their later days and have to be got rid of.
If you are so distressed Annie perhaps you should refrain from commenting on other people's posts.

Corbyn wants to lead a new militant party and he is pushing seventy .

Jen I understand you are a floating voter but as you are st the moment a supporter of Vorbyns militant party please do not tell me I am not a socialist, a socialist would not ignore the homeless and vunerable because if some fantasy .

Truth is I am and always have been a socialist, you have left the greens and joined a party you are hoping will become militant in the full knowledge this means no hope for the homeless and vunerable.

It will soon be your party Hang on there

Annie how do you think your anti-Corbyn comments, criticism of the Labour Party, negative posts about the unions and accusations of militancy help the homeless and vulnerable?