Can Starmer survive? The wolves are circling in the Labour Party.

M0nica

The law in this country sees MPs and councillors as people who are elected to Parliament/Councils on their own merits. They may well be members of specific political parties and people may vote for them because they support a particular party, but they are voted for on a personal basis.

You are the honourable member of Parliament for the constituency of Barchester. Not the Honourable Conservative member for the constituency of Barchester.

To change that would mean changing part of our constitution.

Nevertheless a large section of voters vote for a party not the candidate personally, the leader of that party has a big influence on voters.

Even at local level there are few independants and those that are have usually previously been party councilors and built a personal following, we had one, first Tory then LD, finally independant.

We will see, but I can’t see it. Selling your principles down the river for a job is a pretty low thing to do.

Principles can often go out the window when an MP sees his job vanishing especially in those red wall seats.

I don’t think many Labour MPs would go over to Reform, their principles are totally opposite. I can see Labour defections to the Lib Dems though if things don’t improve.

I can’t ever imagine a LibDems MP moving to Reform.

I think there will be more leakage from the two main parties into Reform over the next few years.

Yes because she wouldn’t be supporting the policies I voted for.
I chose Reform because their policies and beliefs are so far from mine and the ones she talked about during the process in which she won as our CLP candidate

If she abandoned the LP and represented us as an independent on balance I do feel her constituents should get the opportunity to have an alternative Labour candidate or her as an independent

Even if she continued to be a good constituency MP?

MOnica, legally no doubt you are correct.
I voted for our current MP.because I wanted a Labour government. I liked and trusted her, that’s increased as I see how active she is in the constituency and Westminster. If she abandoned the beliefs she set out during the election campaign and went over to Reform I would want the opportunity to vote her out

The law in this country sees MPs and councillors as people who are elected to Parliament/Councils on their own merits. They may well be members of specific political parties and people may vote for them because they support a particular party, but they are voted for on a personal basis.

You are the honourable member of Parliament for the constituency of Barchester. Not the Honourable Conservative member for the constituency of Barchester.

To change that would mean changing part of our constitution.

Yes, it's only fair to the folk who voted them in. I think there might actually be a vid of Farage saying that.

I’m another who believes any mp or councillor should defects should face by election

GrannyGravy13

Allira

I think any standing MP or Councillor who defects to another party should stand down and face the ballot box again in a by-election

Definitely I have been banging on about this for years!

I agree. I think much less of anybody who puts themselves first, before the people who voted for them. The rules should be changed to automatically trigger a by election.

Love the name, though!

It sounds like a Dickens character 🙂

Allira

I think any standing MP or Councillor who defects to another party should stand down and face the ballot box again in a by-election

Definitely I have been banging on about this for years!

I think any standing MP or Councillor who defects to another party should stand down and face the ballot box again in a by-election

Primrose53

Breaking News

Labour Councillor Mason Humberstone has defected to Reform.

Who?

MaizieD

David49

The right would say he is clamping down hard, you are extreme left so you wouldn’t like anything that benefits even centrist policy, your economics are let’s spend the money first then try to get the revenue sometime never, even Blair wasn’t that extreme.

Nonsense, David, there's nothing extreme left about me.

What you term my economics is based on Keynesianism, empirical evidence and a bit more logic than your apparent belief that wealth is created by some people out of thin air.

No Maisie, Keynes promotes spending to grow the economy, you all your posts promote increase social spending and increasing borrowing/QE to do it.
Starmers policy originally was for social spending to be paid out of revenue, that I agree with but doubt it’s going to be achieved now.

David49

The right would say he is clamping down hard, you are extreme left so you wouldn’t like anything that benefits even centrist policy, your economics are let’s spend the money first then try to get the revenue sometime never, even Blair wasn’t that extreme.

Nonsense, David, there's nothing extreme left about me.

What you term my economics is based on Keynesianism, empirical evidence and a bit more logic than your apparent belief that wealth is created by some people out of thin air.

Breaking News

Labour Councillor Mason Humberstone has defected to Reform.

The right would say he is clamping down hard, you are extreme left so you wouldn’t like anything that benefits even centrist policy, your economics are let’s spend the money first then try to get the revenue sometime never, even Blair wasn’t that extreme.

It’s no good following every whim of every liberal cause or policy you have to set policy and stick to it.

But he's not following every whim of every liberal cause, is he, David. He's pandering to the increasingly extreme right.

The lack of talent on both front benches, Labour and Tory, is very worrying. Far too many career-ists, few with real life experience.

I have every faith in him being honest.

Such a shame he wasn't present at the debate when he could have given an honest answer.

M0nica

You do not need to have ideas about who could be a replacement before you say someone should be sacked. If the current leader is clearly failing and doing this in a way that is detrimental to the electors, then he should go. Think abut a replacement when he has gone.

He not at the point of failing yet, but he does need to up his game considerably and get control of the party otherwise he will be seen as ineffectual as Corbyn. It’s no good following every whim of every liberal cause or policy you have to set policy and stick to it.

There are no potential replacements because the party thinks they can maneuver Starmer whichever way they want, that’s all that’s happened so far.