Andy Burnham won Makerfield

Me, too. Can't wait.

mokryna

It is similar to the television game shows, viewers get bored after a few weeks so want to vote a contestant off.

Personally, like both Starmer and Burnham.

People say Starmer has lied, but circumstances around the world have changed. Nobody knew the true deficit in the public finances until Labour came into power, so naturally these, promises/policies, had to change.

The newspapers mainly focus on his mistakes, glasses and football places, corruption, to Mandelson. Compared to a previous minster, to advise the queen to prorogue parliament that parliament would still have “ample time” to debate Brexit, Dominic Cummings, Number 10 breaking of lockdown rules and bodies to pile in the streets, wallpapergate.

Living in the EU what I see is a solid law abiding Starmer giving, a steady hand to lead the UK on the world stage.

The deficit after 14 years of C rule left nothing in the kitty.

Nobody talks about the good he has done. His Chancellor tried to start balancing the books by stopping the winter fuel payments but he listened to the public concern and changed course, now it seems to his detriment.

He is helping larger families with child allowance, school meals, clubs and nurseries but there is no money.

Even the figures of migration are falling people and the NHS had figures of improvement in some places last week, lists falling and more appointments but they don’t hit the headlines.

So Burnham has won this election should, he is a charismatic talker but what can he do differently with no money available and a looming war?

Starmer was damned if he did and damned if he didn’t from day 1.

I hope whatever happens, it’s quick and as painless as possible and I feel, quite frankly, whatever any one else thinks, Starmer has really had a rough ride.

Criticised whether he acts or doesn’t act, insulted by the way he looks and speaks and frankly ridiculed at times.

He’s a highly educated and calm thoughtful man, who like every one of us, is human and flawed and makes mistakes.

Whoever our next PM is needs to understand this and that it’s a poisoned chalice they are being handed (or taking)

David I think you do the majority of people in our country a massive disservice.

Far more people do paid work, than don’t work, far more people work really long hours in low paid jobs and without whom both our economy and health would suffer.

Where would we be with our public sector staff, shop staff, road cleaners. rubbish removal bin staff, those at the lower end of our employment without whom our “high flyers” wouldn’t be able to function, their lowly admin staff and their domestic staff.

Most people in our country, within all generations are not freeloaders. Those with the least financially are often those who give the most, most of their time, most of their empathy and think of others far more often than they think of themselves.

As for pensioners being greedy and selfish, that’s utterly hilarious!

The pensioners that I know do voluntary work, they provide free childcare to their own grandchildren, they look after elderly parents.

They are extremely valuable members of their communities and society and have worked all their lives, paid their correct taxes and brought their children up to be useful members of society.

Cossy I agree totally about Starmer being vilified from day 1
To get this far it has taken a lot of courage and stamina ! I do admire his stubbornness and he has put the country first as far as I am concerned !

Thank you Cossy.
I think he's done a lot of good things and had no credit for them.
I think he's honest and trustworthy.

(Just saying. Not challenging anyone.)

NotSpaghetti

Thank you Cossy.
I think he's done a lot of good things and had no credit for them.
I think he's honest and trustworthy.

(Just saying. Not challenging anyone.)

The PM doesn’t do all these ‘good things’ single handedly.

Ministers in charge of departments are not there to carry out the PM’s instructions. They have policies from the party’s manifesto, which is a collaborative effort, to implement and may have their own ideas on ways to improve the work and purpose of their department. They will have ideas of their own which they seek to have implemented but government is far too complex for one person to be directing every little detail.

The problem with Starmer is that he seems to have been badly advised by McSweeney and spent far too much time chasing Reform voters, who were highly unlikely to vote Labour at the next GE and alienating the ‘soft left’ of the LP membership and the PLP. He also, as many Gnetters have pointed out, had dreadful comms. So many achievements have been barely noticed. who, for instance, has noticed this news? www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/jun/02/uk-green-economy-worth-more-than-100bn-a-year-net-zero

I don’t dislike Starmer but he really hasn’t proved to be competent in the PM role. Like others here, I think he’d be a good Foreign Secretary.

No he doesn't do anything single-handedly.
Nor does anyone else.

And some of us had seen that news. But thanks anyway because probably lots haven't.

I meant to post the net zero article when I first saw it but never got round to it. Something for the Ed Milliband haters to reflect on 😆

MaizieD

I meant to post the net zero article when I first saw it but never got round to it. Something for the Ed Milliband haters to reflect on 😆

I fully support the renewable energy industry as long as everyone realizes how much it is costing us, thats the positive side of net zero.

The negative side is all the goods we import that is produced using fossil fuels, then shipped half way across the globe. It's completely dishonest to claim carbon reduction when all we are doing is importing.

Cossy Yiur post at 17:11 yesterday, very well put and I agree with everything you say.
I have a lot of respect for Keir Starmer and think he is what the country needs right now. We absolutely don’t need the massive disruption of a leadership challenge.
I used to like Andy Burnham but think his self seeking and opportunistic behaviour trying to push Starmer out is disgraceful. Is this the type of person we want running the country?
I have voted Labour all my life but if the current party allow this to happen I will be thinking again.
BTW my first post on N&P, far too aggressive for me, and I doubt it will happen again so please don’t bother attacking me because I won’t be responding.
I just feel so strongly about this issue.

With you Cheesey

No attacking from me Cheesey. I agree with you 💯.

Also, the media have treated KS so unfairly for 2 years. I don’t know how the man has maintained his dignity throughout.

Even now the media won’t give it a rest - constantly ‘reporting’ what’s going on in his mind this weekend. How the hell do they know? They’re obsessed with the drama of it all!

Makes me sick😡

Cossy

mokryna

It is similar to the television game shows, viewers get bored after a few weeks so want to vote a contestant off.

Personally, like both Starmer and Burnham.

People say Starmer has lied, but circumstances around the world have changed. Nobody knew the true deficit in the public finances until Labour came into power, so naturally these, promises/policies, had to change.

The newspapers mainly focus on his mistakes, glasses and football places, corruption, to Mandelson. Compared to a previous minster, to advise the queen to prorogue parliament that parliament would still have “ample time” to debate Brexit, Dominic Cummings, Number 10 breaking of lockdown rules and bodies to pile in the streets, wallpapergate.

Living in the EU what I see is a solid law abiding Starmer giving, a steady hand to lead the UK on the world stage.

The deficit after 14 years of C rule left nothing in the kitty.

Nobody talks about the good he has done. His Chancellor tried to start balancing the books by stopping the winter fuel payments but he listened to the public concern and changed course, now it seems to his detriment.

He is helping larger families with child allowance, school meals, clubs and nurseries but there is no money.

Even the figures of migration are falling people and the NHS had figures of improvement in some places last week, lists falling and more appointments but they don’t hit the headlines.

So Burnham has won this election should, he is a charismatic talker but what can he do differently with no money available and a looming war?

Starmer was damned if he did and damned if he didn’t from day 1.

I hope whatever happens, it’s quick and as painless as possible and I feel, quite frankly, whatever any one else thinks, Starmer has really had a rough ride.

Criticised whether he acts or doesn’t act, insulted by the way he looks and speaks and frankly ridiculed at times.

He’s a highly educated and calm thoughtful man, who like every one of us, is human and flawed and makes mistakes.

Whoever our next PM is needs to understand this and that it’s a poisoned chalice they are being handed (or taking)

I don’t believe he was damned from day one, but the political mistakes he made did escalate quickly it’s true.
I don’t think he’s had a rough ride, it was all of his own making.
As for insulted on how he looks and speaks and frankly ridiculed at times, well the same happened to Boris Johnson didn’t it?
I think every PM we have had up to now has been highly educated ( intelligence and political nous matters more).
Poisoned chalice or no, all politicians want a crack at it.

Starmer should think about resigning right now, if he goes for a fight against Burnham then he won’t win and will be humiliated by it. Setting a timeline for himself to resign is better for him and the Party and the country.
When we vote we vote for the Party not the would be PM.

Damned from day one?

Having so many left sing new MPs that do not share his vision has been a big problem, of course the media has piled in as they as they always do. Now most of the population think he is the devil incarnate, such is the power of the media.

Burnham is an opportunist, thats the nature of politics, dog eats dog, no loyalty, they would all sell their own granny for a fiver. However someone has to be PM, ultimately all end up failing, the only doubt is how much damage is done in the meantime

Wing

BBC News said last night that Yvette Cooper had asked him to make a decision and organise a smooth transition. They said Andy Burnham would be offered the job without the need for a leadership race. Does it work like that? Surely there are others who might like to throw their hat in the ring.

LizzieDrip

No attacking from me Cheesey. I agree with you 💯.

Also, the media have treated KS so unfairly for 2 years. I don’t know how the man has maintained his dignity throughout.

Even now the media won’t give it a rest - constantly ‘reporting’ what’s going on in his mind this weekend. How the hell do they know? They’re obsessed with the drama of it all!

Makes me sick😡

👏👏👏👏👏👏

Sarnia

BBC News said last night that Yvette Cooper had asked him to make a decision and organise a smooth transition. They said Andy Burnham would be offered the job without the need for a leadership race. Does it work like that? Surely there are others who might like to throw their hat in the ring.

Streeting knows that he would lose to Burnham as do all other hat throwers.

The ambition of politicians is a given, as far as I’m concerned. They wouldn’t be in politics without it.

I think people have been sold soundbites by those who want to destabilise the UK, and have been more than willing to repeat them slavishly from Day 1 of Starmer’s leadership. ‘He’s toast’, ‘ a rabbit in the headlights’, ‘two tier Kier’, and so on.

Yes, people criticised Johnson for his deliberately ’tousled’ hair and scruffy appearance, but mainly because he lied (to us all, to Parliament, to the late Queen) and was guilty of cronyism and more. There is a huge difference. And anyway, ‘what about poor Boris?’ is no defence of how Kier has been treated.

No doubt Burnham will face the same treatment as Starmer - the UK media don’t like Labour, and SM is poisoned by billionaires (and now a trillionaire) so is all but impossible to counter, and the public seems to have a pack mentality and an unwillingness to think critically about what is happening, preferring to talk in slogans written by others.

Starmer said at the start that there would be no quick fixes. It would take time to get to a point where the mismanagement of the country could begin to be turned around. But the public wanted those quick fixes and blamed him all the same.

He has made mistakes, undoubtedly. He has not been radical enough, IMO. His Comms have been perplexing dreadful. I think he should, probably, stand down now, as he’s lost support from his colleagues and the public. But he has been excellent at foreign affairs (remember Badenoch and Farage’s willingness to go to war for Trump) and has done a lot of other good things, and I don’t think we should forget that.

I hope he stays in Parliament (as FS, preferably) and that the transition to AB can be seamless as possible, but time will tell.

David49

Damned from day one?

Having so many left sing new MPs that do not share his vision has been a big problem, of course the media has piled in as they as they always do. Now most of the population think he is the devil incarnate, such is the power of the media.

Burnham is an opportunist, thats the nature of politics, dog eats dog, no loyalty, they would all sell their own granny for a fiver. However someone has to be PM, ultimately all end up failing, the only doubt is how much damage is done in the meantime

Sadly, I agree. Whether AB would make a good PM or not, in my own head, has drifted into insignificance.

I just don’t like the way he’s “wormed” his way back in through the back door.

He had a very good chance a lt leading the party twice before and failed, so decided to stop being an MP l, and go for the mayor of Manchester, where, by all accounts, he did a good job and looked after a huge community very well.

However, this is a very different role to being PM. Now there’s a major mayorship role requiring filling and yet another expensive and unecessary election.

I’m fed up with this whole shenanigans from the MP who stepped down to allow AB to run, to the divided LP, to the hounding of Starmer.

Like it or not, Starmer won his leadership contest, his party then won the election.

I don’t blame him at all for not wanting to step away from a job, he was given fairly and squarely, he’s not been allowed to finish.

Utterly fed up with all politics and all parties atm!

I admit to disliking all prime ministers. However as much as Starmer grated more cheese than my cheese grater, I don’t think he should resign. Burnham may well have better public facing skills but what exactly is his agenda for the country? But of course with the way politics works, Burnham might not stay the course either. Lettuce remember. (Bad joke)

Doodledog

The ambition of politicians is a given, as far as I’m concerned. They wouldn’t be in politics without it.

I think people have been sold soundbites by those who want to destabilise the UK, and have been more than willing to repeat them slavishly from Day 1 of Starmer’s leadership. ‘He’s toast’, ‘ a rabbit in the headlights’, ‘two tier Kier’, and so on.

Yes, people criticised Johnson for his deliberately ’tousled’ hair and scruffy appearance, but mainly because he lied (to us all, to Parliament, to the late Queen) and was guilty of cronyism and more. There is a huge difference. And anyway, ‘what about poor Boris?’ is no defence of how Kier has been treated.

No doubt Burnham will face the same treatment as Starmer - the UK media don’t like Labour, and SM is poisoned by billionaires (and now a trillionaire) so is all but impossible to counter, and the public seems to have a pack mentality and an unwillingness to think critically about what is happening, preferring to talk in slogans written by others.

Starmer said at the start that there would be no quick fixes. It would take time to get to a point where the mismanagement of the country could begin to be turned around. But the public wanted those quick fixes and blamed him all the same.

He has made mistakes, undoubtedly. He has not been radical enough, IMO. His Comms have been perplexing dreadful. I think he should, probably, stand down now, as he’s lost support from his colleagues and the public. But he has been excellent at foreign affairs (remember Badenoch and Farage’s willingness to go to war for Trump) and has done a lot of other good things, and I don’t think we should forget that.

I hope he stays in Parliament (as FS, preferably) and that the transition to AB can be seamless as possible, but time will tell.

👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

ronib

I admit to disliking all prime ministers. However as much as Starmer grated more cheese than my cheese grater, I don’t think he should resign. Burnham may well have better public facing skills but what exactly is his agenda for the country? But of course with the way politics works, Burnham might not stay the course either. Lettuce remember. (Bad joke)

But funny just the same 🤣🤣🤣🤣

Oreo

Starmer should think about resigning right now, if he goes for a fight against Burnham then he won’t win and will be humiliated by it. Setting a timeline for himself to resign is better for him and the Party and the country.
When we vote we vote for the Party not the would be PM.

That’s true . . . And not true.
If it was completely true, there wouldn’t be so many claims that Jeremy Corbyn was part of the reason Labour didn’t win mid term.
Re KS being humiliated if he loses an election against Burnham?
Don't you think he already feels that?
Maybe he also feels that it would be better for the LP if Burnham is actually elected PM rather than just handed it on a plate.

That way MPs (and indirectly LP voters) can pat themselves on the back for having elected the leader they want in the same way they all congratulated themselves on getting KS.

That way, if AB fails to live up to expectations the MPs/voters/media can’t turn round and slate KS for just giving up.

Because they would do that!