He has done it! The toolmakers son has resigned!

Burnham will still have to follow the party's mandate.

And what might that mandate be? Please tell us...

NotSpaghetti

Tony Blair was the person who really took the labour party "to the right" in my opinion.

Of course it was Blair’s New Labour govt which was far more centralist than previous Labour governments.

Ladyleftfieldlover

Maybe the heat is getting to me, but I have a slight crush on Andy Burnham.

That should lighten the mood a little on this increasingly rancorous thread!

Not for me. I’d be happy if he stopped wearing a black shirt though. It has unpleasant connotations to do with the right wing fascists that I learned about in history.

AGAA4

I blame the Tories for this. It was unheard of for a party to get rid of so many PMs. It seems to have become the norm.
Keir Starmer was handed a poisoned chalice with those who voted for him expecting a lot more than any PM could possibly deliver.
His chancellor was a very poor choice I believe too.
In two years Labour have achieved to improve some things but not enough press attention to any successes.
Starmer is a decent man with little charisma which has not helped him.
Those with charisma like Farage are anything but decent.
I'm sorry to see Starmer go. I didn't vote Labour and at one time was a Tory but they let me down far more than Starmer has done.

Even if KS had served his full 5 years, he still wouldn’t have achieved all he wanted.

He wasn’t incompetent, he wasn’t a “failure”, he didn’t lose “most people’s” support when he and Rayner and his entire office took the knee.

He was a very safe, calm pair of hands, he did achieve (along with his team) many positive things, he was a man with integrity.

He trusted too many people, he didn’t ensure his comms teams were on top of things, he probably should have replaced RR. He ignored much of the media criticism instead of directly challenging them.

He had a very shaky start to his term, the riots didn’t help, then once the media stuck the knife in, it happened time and time again and he was never going to recover.

Nothing has changed except we will have a new PM.

All the same economic issues will be here, Reform and Restore will still be here, none of the “wars” have been resolved, we’ll still have shortages of Nurses/Doctors/Police etc. nothing has changed, inroads have been made with AS etc but all the things started by Starmer need to continue.

Time will tell. I’m waiting to see before I judge AB, but for me he’s not made the best impression.

I m sorry I think Starmer is a man of integrity and clear headedness
He wasn’t dynamite or entertaining he was probably boring and staid after clowns and far right shenanigans but I do believe he was a decent man who should have had longer

MaizieD

^Burnham will still have to follow the party's mandate.^

And what might that mandate be? Please tell us...

Your not the only one referencing the mandate
Plenty of political commentators ( not the bbc, Sky etc talking heads) but people who really understand politics have put forward that there never was a mandate
.

Gosh MaizieD, forgot all about how close that election was.
How much did Theresa May 'donate' to NI, to ensure the DUP vote?

MaizieD

^Burnham will still have to follow the party's mandate.^

And what might that mandate be? Please tell us...

?
This.
labour.org.uk/updates/stories/labour-manifesto-2024-sign-up/

Cossy

People should remember this day.

I certainly hope those that Starmer brought to power are happy and for the sake of the LP and our country I do hope AB has something truly magical to pull out of his hat!

Thank you Sir Keir, you are a good man and I’m sorry you were not given the chance to finish what you started!

My thoughts exactly. The L Party may well regret what they have plotted.

Bit late to the party thread but I'm on holiday in Cyprus. Sat on the flight yesterday DH and I agreed that whilst we're on holiday then politics was off the agenda. That is until the announcement was made today that Starmer had stood down. The universal cheers that went up around the poolside spoke volumes - not just the Brits but also our European friends, many of who agreed that it was good for the UK. My God, the amount of champagne bottles that suddenly started appearing was a sight to behold.

Hey ho, off to get ready for dinner - have a great evening everyone 😂

BlueBelle

I m sorry I think Starmer is a man of integrity and clear headedness
He wasn’t dynamite or entertaining he was probably boring and staid after clowns and far right shenanigans but I do believe he was a decent man who should have had longer

And, according to my MP that is what non Labour voters are saying. Labour need to remember that they’re not just representing their supporters which doesn’t mean just pandering to Reform voters. As someone said on tv it’s actually more difficult having a government with a large majority because MP’s can safely go against the party leader because there is such a huge safety net. I personally think that in three years time Trump will be gone, hopefully the Middle East should have settled down and people would have been seeing their lives improving which would have taken away some of the grievances of Reform supporters ( and I think Reform were imploding anyway). And then Labour would have been re elected and real change would happen. But we’ll never know now unless ( and this wouldn’t surprise me) Burnham just continues with the improvements that Labour under Keir are doing but gets the credit for it. At least now there is finally being some scrutiny by the media of what Keir has achieved. The thought of Keir facing Badenoch on Wednesday is making me feel the way I used to when I had to go to school to face the school bullies. She and the Reform mob will be loving it. Still, I might be pleasantly surprised and Badenoch will be gracious towards him.

MayBee70 I think Corbyn would have won if he had been remain.

Another "Brexit" disaster in my opinion.

BlueBelle

I m sorry I think Starmer is a man of integrity and clear headedness
He wasn’t dynamite or entertaining he was probably boring and staid after clowns and far right shenanigans but I do believe he was a decent man who should have had longer

Please don’t apologise. It’s so rare to get a fair minded, level headed politician of integrity.

Spinnaker

Bit late to the party thread but I'm on holiday in Cyprus. Sat on the flight yesterday DH and I agreed that whilst we're on holiday then politics was off the agenda. That is until the announcement was made today that Starmer had stood down. The universal cheers that went up around the poolside spoke volumes - not just the Brits but also our European friends, many of who agreed that it was good for the UK. My God, the amount of champagne bottles that suddenly started appearing was a sight to behold.

Hey ho, off to get ready for dinner - have a great evening everyone 😂

I do find that odd given that actually on the European stage Starmer was popular and some of the comments from leaders in these countries appears sincere and heartfelt.

Well said Bluebell & Maybee.
I completely agree with you both.
I feel deeply saddened for Sir Keir.

Maremia

Gosh MaizieD, forgot all about how close that election was.
How much did Theresa May 'donate' to NI, to ensure the DUP vote?

It was millions and completely wasted as they dumped her anyway!

Spinnaker

Bit late to the party thread but I'm on holiday in Cyprus. Sat on the flight yesterday DH and I agreed that whilst we're on holiday then politics was off the agenda. That is until the announcement was made today that Starmer had stood down. The universal cheers that went up around the poolside spoke volumes - not just the Brits but also our European friends, many of who agreed that it was good for the UK. My God, the amount of champagne bottles that suddenly started appearing was a sight to behold.

Hey ho, off to get ready for dinner - have a great evening everyone 😂

Interesting!
Enjoy your politics free hols😃

I know there is a no swearing thing on here but can I just add that Steve Bray is a complete arse. I was a remainer but honestly if that is an example of remainers I will absolutely become a Brexiteer. It is utterly embarrassing behaviour particularly if shown on the world stage.

Starmer is/was a consummate professional lawyer who rose to his DPS leadership role based on his legal career success and many years experience as a defence lawyer. Thus he had/has a cool, forensic, unemotional, evidence based decision making style. He believes in the rule of law and brought that to the table as PM. Thats is mainly what he brought. This helped shaped his success on the world stage but rendered him less equipped his to connect with his cabinet, MPs, party members, electorate, trade union affiliates and the media. Lack of. engagement with those partners made everything far more difficult and challenging and eventually led to his downfall.

His determination helped shaped the LP back to a position sufficiently fit for purpose to win the GE in 2024. Credit where credit is due. That same determination in removing the whip from MPs, who did not serve his cool calculated decisions at various times was alienating to some and thus he was never an alliance building leader.

Starmer came very late to politics, in his 50s, thus had few years to hone his political skills, lacked political experience, had little time develop the requisite skills to communicate with his electorate (his style was never engaging) lacked political experience to determine the best candidates to form a government (he chose RR as chancellor fgs), to engage with the civil service and treasury etc. He was. thus much more reliant than the majority of PMs on his advisors. His advisors were not chosen well and did not serve him well.

Starmer made decisions in his style of a rules based lawyer. rather than with the ability to understand the impact politically. He made some early decisions that backfired in context of his political naivety and lack of political nous. Politics is a febrile, unforgiving environment he was quickly on the back foot.

Thus the expectation that he would be a 'safe pair of hands' domestically quickly began to unscramble in the face of early mishaps. The electorate and media was quick to judge.

It can't be taken away from Starmer that he is a conscientious, ethical man that came to his role to serve. He, in leading his government achieved some successes as others have ably listed in earlier posts. He has served the UK well on the world stage as other posters have outlined. In febrile, geo political challenges and risks that is to his credit.

Yet some poor decisions, either ill thought through or not communicated well, out weighed the positives for many, too many. This disconnect gained momentum. His U turns frustrated many. The electorate, trade union affiliate supporters began to pull against him as a leader. His decision to appoint Mandelson increased the pull against him further. His decision, as part of NEC, to not allow AB to sand as an MP in G and D by election was politically naive as that increased the determination of AB. The recent local by elections and vote share capture of Reform UK was the last straw for detractors. and Starmer thus was now seen as vulnerable.

The need for change became inevitable to so many. Not every. one of course- but a large majority. AB's election in Makerfield presented the detractors with an apparent solution to facilitate the change in leadership so many seek. Starmer has applied his lawyer forensic consideration of this evidence over the weekend and the penny dropped. He is a honourable man and has decided to step down as a result. His speech this morning I felt was dignified and offered with good grace- to Strmer's credit.

AB will put himself forward as a contender. Streeting now will not (did he actually manage to secure 81% MP backers in the first place? No matter now- he can read the room!). Not many other contenders will mange to secure 81 MPs backers in a leadership contest vote, particularly now as so many will sway towards AB. It will not be a bloody contest, or drawn out - we thank Starmer for that.

That it is not immediate (thanks again Starmer) gives AB time to get on top of his brief- put ideas together- etc. Love him or loathe him there is no need for a GE (Farage is just chancing his arm and trying to get media headlines as he fully understands this fact) and there will not be a GE. We will have a new LP PM in post after the summer recess, poised and ready for a very very short honeymoon phase. The conference season will quickly follow. That presents opportunities (and challenges) for the new PM to hone and communicate priorities and direction of travel for and to the LP and the electorate for the next three years.

I suspect that will be AB. He is politically savvy and experienced. He is not perfect, no one is. But he has been round the block, is consummate in communicating to his electorate and the media in Grter Manchester and no reason to think he can not transfer his skills. He will not be unduly set back by lack of positive media support, will stand his ground, and will do as he has done for the past 9 years- build alliances and partnerships. Like Stramer- AB is similarly determined, ambitious and takes his political opportunities as they present. Unlike Starmer he will engage much better. he will not expect an easy ride- he can read the room. He is not divisive in approach.

Then the hard work begins. The new PM's MPs and cabinet must fully understand there are three years only to knuckle down and do the work. No further chances to change course. The electorate would not stand for that....

FWIW- that Starmer is the son of a tool maker- is a credit where British politics is more dominated by PMs who do not usually come from such backgrounds- but is not a thing that has been at the forefront of my mind as a contributor to his current position.

The more interesting Q the OP asked was can AB restore Labour? It definitely won't be easy- but I'm hoping he can and think he has more years of experience and a better skill set to do so than Starmer. Only time will tell.

Galaxy

I know there is a no swearing thing on here but can I just add that Steve Bray is a complete arse. I was a remainer but honestly if that is an example of remainers I will absolutely become a Brexiteer. It is utterly embarrassing behaviour particularly if shown on the world stage.

I’m furious with him especially as Keir was on the people’s vote marches with us.

Feel sorry for him but giving someone like Mandelson such a big job showed a lack of good judgement and accepting freebies when you are so well off. that's not a decison that shows good judgement He didn't come across as someone who understood the working class

Calendargirl

greyfur

Calendargirl

The late Queen had 15 Prime Ministers throughout her 70 year reign.

King Charles will soon see his 4th, in just under four years.

Average of 1 a year so far then.

He was not "hopeless" Whilst many were eager to jump into an illegal war, he refused.

Not sure why I have been quoted.

I never said he was hopeless.

Apologies, my error.

Casdon

MaizieD

Burnham will still have to follow the party's mandate.

And what might that mandate be? Please tell us...

?
This.
labour.org.uk/updates/stories/labour-manifesto-2024-sign-up/

The first sentence was a quote that I didn't format properly.

I'm not really sure that a manifesto is the same as a mandate.

It’s what they signed up as a party to achieve should they be elected, and they were elected to achieve it, so in my view it is the same thing MaizieD.