Andy Burnham won Makerfield

Cossy

Casdon

On one point I think you’ve skewed, Cossy, which is that I don’t think Burnham would be a fool for not appointing Starmer into the cabinet, because it will be Starmer who holds the cards on whether he actually wants to do that. I can’t think of any recent case of a PM accepting a cabinet post after standing down as PM, even though I too would like him to.

I think AB would be foolish not to offer and I think Starmer would be equally foolish to decline it, if offered.

Starmer can make a good living as a lawyer and MP why take on extra work when the majority dont like you.

I think you’re right re AB asking, but it would be a huge ask for Starmer to accept, and it’s quite harsh on him to say he would be foolish to decline - how many bosses would accept a demotion like that? All credit to him if he does, but I could understand completely if he didn’t.

Casdon

On one point I think you’ve skewed, Cossy, which is that I don’t think Burnham would be a fool for not appointing Starmer into the cabinet, because it will be Starmer who holds the cards on whether he actually wants to do that. I can’t think of any recent case of a PM accepting a cabinet post after standing down as PM, even though I too would like him to.

I think AB would be foolish not to offer and I think Starmer would be equally foolish to decline it, if offered.

On one point I think you’ve skewed, Cossy, which is that I don’t think Burnham would be a fool for not appointing Starmer into the cabinet, because it will be Starmer who holds the cards on whether he actually wants to do that. I can’t think of any recent case of a PM accepting a cabinet post after standing down as PM, even though I too would like him to.

Casdon

The only way a smooth transition is possible is if Starmer resigns, a leadership contest is initiated, and Burnham is the only person who stands for election. Within the Labour Party constitution that’s how it works.

Agree.

There is no official “vote of no confidence” in the LP constitution.

“The Labour Party does not have a formal mechanism for a vote of no confidence to remove its leader.

Instead, to trigger a leadership challenge, a challenger must be nominated by at least 20% of Labour MPs in the House of Commons.

Because the party has no internal no-confidence rules, a Labour leader facing pressure can refuse to resign, even if their MPs hold an unofficial no-confidence vote.

For example, when Labour MPs passed a motion of no confidence against Jeremy Corbyn in 2016 by a margin of 172 to 40, he stayed in post, arguing that his mandate from party members outweighed the parliamentary party.”

nanna8

Starmer should have gone 6 months ago. He should be a foreign minister, he would be good at that. He has never been any good as a PM, totally wrong personality.

We’ve had PMs with different personalities since we had PMs.

Starmer was the choice the LP made and they had a few years, since 2020, to decide if he was PM “material” and clearly they decided he was a ran with him in 2024.

People and politics are so fickle.

I do hope AB, “King of Manchester” is fully prepared for the vitriol which may be directed at him from all sides, the opposition, the general public, his colleagues and the media, once his honeymoon period is over.

Unlike the USA, our PM cannot sign executive orders and make new legislation in a day.

Getting new laws passed is a long and protracted process, the wheels of our parliament grind very slowly indeed, which is one reason it makes me laugh very loudly when I hear Reform supporters stating how quickly Farage the Fearless will get his own policies (contracts or whatever else he now calls his pledges) into law if he became PM.

AB and any other political leader, will face all the same challenges as Starmer and I do this isn’t the start of “revolving PMs” started by the Tories.

AB is a fool if he doesn’t appoint Starmer as FS or another senior ministerial role. I hope for the sake of our country and all voters that AB is as good as he, and his supporters, think he is.

However I won’t be sorry to see the back of RR, I didn’t like her from day 1.

I’d like to see the return of Lisa Nandy and my favourite redhead, Ms Rayner.

(Steps back to hear gasps of horror and pearl clutching!)

The only way a smooth transition is possible is if Starmer resigns, a leadership contest is initiated, and Burnham is the only person who stands for election. Within the Labour Party constitution that’s how it works.

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.

There will most likely be a vote of no confidence by Labour MPs, if Starmer does badly and resigns, then if no candidates oppose Burnham he will be appointed on the spot if thats what MPs want.

Personally I think that best for the UK

Indeed thats how Sunak became PM nobody opposed him

Truss wanted to move too fast.
So what exactly are Burnham’s burning ambitions for our country? Don’t we deserve to know?

I agree Mollygo.

I would prefer that all this sh**show wasn’t happening but … we are where we are.

So, as a LP member, I would prefer a leadership election. I abhor the idea of a coronation for AB. I want to hear him set out his stall for how he would ‘transform’ the country. He may have ‘transformed’ Manchester (although he hasn’t actually) but what are his wider views on … the economy, foreign policy, Net Zero, etc?

I want him to be scrutinised, in the same way that KS was in the leadership and General elections. KS has proved himself to be a fighter … I want to see that from AB, on a national stage, not just Manchester.

We, as members, deserve to have a democratic vote for who leads our party.

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😡

I agree, sick of the media obsessing over these people, with silly pictures of them getting in and out of cars or walking along Downing Street, as if we don't know what they look like.

I'm so sick of the revolving door of No 10. This country deserves a stable government who can manage to stay in place for a whole term, without all the drama. We want a steady hand at the helm who can take on the big issues especially regarding crime which is out of control and affecting everything else.

The last PM we had for any decent length of time was Cameron (6 years). May and Johnson (3 years each) but now we're about to have our 4th PM since 2022 which is an embarrassment.

Apologies for the random 'I find', I didn't preview 🤥

Burnham has been around politics for long enough to know just what the score is; Starmer was a political virgin in comparison, had only been an MP for fewer than 10 years before becoming PM. His previous roles as DPP and a barrister were not, it seems, adequate preparation for the job. Yes, he exuded a reassuring air of quiet competence but he has proved to be less than competent with very little feeling for what the Labour Party stands for in the eyes of a significant number of LP members and the general public. His handling of the 'left' wingers in the party has been both authoritarian and inept.

At least Burnham has a record of collaboration with political 'others' and, it seems, an ability to keep voters 'on side'. I find

Dark mutterings of 'lettuce' are absurd, he's nothing like Truss.

I find fear of 'the left' to be ridiculous in view of the fact that people seem completely indifferent to the hardships imposed on the general population over the years by the tories ever since Thatcher.

Starmer should have gone 6 months ago. He should be a foreign minister, he would be good at that. He has never been any good as a PM, totally wrong personality.

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!

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 🤣🤣🤣🤣

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.

👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

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)

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!

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.

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.

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😡

👏👏👏👏👏👏

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.

Wing

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