Andy Burnham won Makerfield

If only, as Susieq62 has said above, that Burnham and Starmer could work together. Add in Streeting as well. Brains and the best of intentions for the country. If Burnham and Streeting are only working for their own ends, they will split the Labour Party. They dont need a contest just crack on with the gov as it is. They have a bl***y big job yo get on with.

But that's not going to happen.

GrannyGravy13

Now we shall have weeks if not months of uncertainty whilst Labour continues its infighting.

Should have kept the Conservatives…

Are you serious? They were the worst government we’ve ever had!

Well the press seem to like Andy atm, and I can see that there are members on here rooting for him. I just wonder what it will be like if he does become PM and things don’t change quickly enough for the electorate, will the vultures circle again??
Am just worried we are presently treating PMs like football managers, giving them their marching orders if a season goes badly only to get another manager that can’t deliver the results the fans demand.

Cossy

JenniferEccles

A post earlier said something about being pleased that Reform didn’t come anywhere.
Well they came second so they most certainly did come somewhere !

Interesting times. Starmer has insisted he’s not going anywhere and would most certainly stand if there’s a leadership challenge.

He doesn’t need to “stand” - see below,

“How do Labour MPs initiate a leadership challenge against the leader?

There is only one way for Labour MPs to formally initiate a leadership challenge. A challenger (or challengers) must be nominated by at least 20% of the combined ranks of Labour MPs.

Currently, 81 Labour MPs would need to jointly nominate a challenger. Nominations must be submitted in written form to the general secretary of the party. This triggers a leadership contest.

In these circumstances, *a sitting leader is not required to seek nominations (they are on the ballot paper by default).•

Can Labour MPs remove a leader through a vote of no confidence?
Unlike the Conservative Party, there is no formal role for a vote of no confidence as part of the process of a leadership challenge.

Although the Parliamentary Labour Party held a no confidence vote in the leader in 2016, Jeremy Corbyn refused to resign and argued that his support among party members outweighed his lack of support from Labour MPs.

What is the voting system used in a Labour leadership election?

The Labour Party has used a one-person-one-vote system for leadership elections since 2015. As both Labour Party members and affiliated trade union supporters are able to vote, this system ensures that the same person cannot vote both as a trade union member and as a Labour Party member. Until October 2021, it was also possible for registered supporters to vote without becoming a full party member. However, this is no longer the case.
Affiliated trade union members have to opt-in to be affiliated supporters of the Labour Party. Members of the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) also have one vote each in the leadership election. This means that a large membership can vastly outvote the PLP.
Voting takes place using the alternative vote system (a preferential ballot). If one candidate gets more than 50% of the vote, they are elected. If no candidate manages this, then the candidate who came last is removed and their votes are redistributed to voters’ second preference candidates. This process is repeated until one candidate has more than half of the votes.“

Thanks for this explanation Cossy. We already know the LP members and affiliated Trade Union supports are more likely to cast their vote for Burnham than Starmer by a big margin.

On the basis of AB's ability to withstand the Reform vote pattern swing in the local elections just seven weeks ago and his high public positive ratings, AB has a powerful calling card for sitting MPs to veer towards him also, hoping to retain their seats at the next General election. On that basis I would suspect AB will secure more than 50% of the vote.

LP members and TU supporters are not so keen on Streeting.

FranP

Self-serving Burnham dumped the people of Manchester, and will shortly dump the duped people of Makerfield while he goes for his own agenda and splits the work of the current government and if he wins will take all of the credit for the foundations laid by Starmer to fix Tory budget decimation. He is only out for himself.

I personally would not describe AB as self serving- he has served Greater Manchester well and given 15% of his salary up towards the homeless whilst Mayor. I know of no other politician at senior level willing to do that.

Jess Philips said that on the doorstep, the voters could acknowledge that Labour had done some good things but didn't see them as thanks to Starmer.
It is like that he is now trying to take credit for removing the two child limit on benefits when people know that he previously sacked people for wanting to do that very thing.
Dislike of Starmer is so baked innow, I relly don't see how he could carry on.

Who in their right mind is still voting for Labour?

There are rumours that if AB get to be PM he could make Ed Milliband Chancellor. Now that's a scary thought!

Voting for the Labour Party in a GE Pilgrimandrew? You'll have to wait three years to find out the answer to that question.

That Reform won Makerfield local elections just seven weeks ago but lost decisively to AB yesterday suggests the local election votes were a protest vote against Starmer and his government.

To secure a voting swing of such magnitude from Reform to the LP in 7 short weeks strengthens the inference that Makerfield residents have not lost heart in the LP but have lost confidence in Starmer as its current leader. They know their reasons but the outcome sends a strong message people are still voting for the LP when it matters....

What I would like to see are leaders who put the country ahead of their own ambitions.

Imo people are jumping ahead and speculating far too fast at what the future holds. Read LemonJam's description of our processes. It may be fun to predict rapid and incoherent changes like th last years of the conservative government, but things dont work that way.

It takes a long time folks, and a great deal can come out of the process with all the different players in the game. No one I know in the LP wants a forced, hurried and ill considered transition.

Slow is good, maintaining effective government during change is good.

I see no reason why Starmer in the future could not work within government, for example. As a good Foreign Secretary.

Pilgrimandrew

Who in their right mind is still voting for Labour?

What cool-aid part of the press have you been supping at?
Sigh.

Who would you like to see in power and what is it you want them to do?

Our changes of leader are different to the other lot, honest.

Pilgrimandrew

Who in their right mind is still voting for Labour?

Me! Absolutely.

GrannyGravy13

Now we shall have weeks if not months of uncertainty whilst Labour continues its infighting.

Should have kept the Conservatives…

I don't think it's so much a question of in-fighting as a stubborn - yet weak - Prime Minister trying to survive on dwindling authority, losing the respect of his MP's and rendering his government thoroughly impotent.

There's been an AI clip,on YouTube, of two guys trying to drag Sir Keir out of Number 10 as he clings to the front door with all his might.

I hope it doesn't come to that.

A pity we didn’t have Burnham when Labour ditched JC.
It was not JC or his policies which shaped the last election but the smearing, controlling msm.
AB is not JC but much preferable to the parvenu traitorStarmer.
As to wanting Tories-does no one hear remember the farce of the Tories in lockdown and lettuce gate?

Tooyoungytobeagrandma

I liked the fact that a fairly new, unknown (to some) party knocked conservative and lib dem out and came third. Can't stand Starmer, Farage gives me the creeps and politics in general leave me cold. BUT the fact that a small party came third, with a leader who dares to upset the "establishment" has peaked my interest. If they have enough people to stand in the next GE I may well actually vote 🗳 😁

The fairly new, unknown, party didn't knock conservatives and LibDem out. The 3,00 odd votes Restore got were probably about all they were likely to get. This wouldn't have been notable in most by elections.

I strongly suspect that both Lib Dems, tories, and Greens, gave their votes to Burnham because they were utterly determined that Reform should not win when polling was putting them closer to Labour than the result actually justified. I also suspect that had there not been so much depending on the Labour win their vote share would have been more representative of the parties' strength in the constituency.

Though it is interesting to speculate that Reform is loathed so much by centre, centre left, and decent centre right voters that they will vote tactically to block it. Other, more 'normal' by elections could be informative on that point.

That’s exactly what happened in Wales in our Senedd election MaizieD. The voters were fed up with Labour after over 20 years, but went, in a full PR system, for another left vote, ie Plaid Cymru, and were able to keep Reform out of power. Now the Senedd is sitting, the other parties are voting frequently with Plaid rather than supporting Reform’s opposition, too.

I agree with LemonJam
I also have a great fear that if Burnham takes over the Labour Party we will go too far to the left and we will end up like what happened when Corbyn took over.
I can understand many feel they cannot trust the Conservative Party when it’s not so much the party it is the awful mess that Boris got us into while I feel Kemi Badenoch is a great positive thinker with a plan in place which Labour don’t seem to have.

Sarnia

MayBee70

Not aware that Labour were planning to abolish it

I have never trusted Rachel Reeves with her itchy fingers. Hopefully if all Burnham's plans come to fruition he will find another Chancellor. Quite frankly, anyone would be better than her.

I don't know Sarnia. I read in one of the papers the other day that Ed Miliband was going to put himself forward for Chancellor - don't know if it's true or not. He was awful as a Prime Minister back in the day. He's forging ahead with setting up wind farms but we don't have the infrastructure at the moment to transfer it to GB homes. So let's sell it to France where, if the papers are to be believed we will be paying them to 'buy' our electricity. All in the name of setting a goal the country cannot achieve at the moment.

HelterSkelter1

If only, as Susieq62 has said above, that Burnham and Starmer could work together. Add in Streeting as well. Brains and the best of intentions for the country. If Burnham and Streeting are only working for their own ends, they will split the Labour Party. They dont need a contest just crack on with the gov as it is. They have a bl***y big job yo get on with.

If only! Trouble is all politicians appear to have such oversized egos!

Pilgrimandrew

Who in their right mind is still voting for Labour?

Quite a few of us and probably all think who on earth would vote for Reform let alone Restore? Especially women!

Pilgrimandrew

Who in their right mind is still voting for Labour?

55% of the population of Makerfield. Are you saying that 55% of all the people who live in that constituency are not in their right mind? Crikey.