Starmer may resign

I think resigning will be less humiliating than being forced out. I can't think of a single nice thing to say about him. Right from the start he was fixed on this globalist agenda and it seems to be the only thing he was concerned about.

3 things I liked:

Swallowed his pride & was "matey" with Trump, earning us a bit of a bye when stonking tariffs were introduced (& repealed & introduced again)

Said he was going to make unpopular decisions but he was going to do this because long-term stability for UK is better than personal acclaim for him.

Wasn't having any of it when Trump wanted us to join in Iran war.

Settled the long-running NHS strikes (I know the hospital docs have come back, but not as strong as grievances partially appeased)

Getting rid of 0 hour contracts & other exploitative work practices. some progress on small boats, renters right.

I always found Starmer to be a hypocrite, but he did do some things I liked, such as allowing the Assisted Dying Bill to be voted on (even though the awful House of Lords later vetoed it), telling Trump he wasn't letting Britain be involved in his stupid war, and always sticking up for Ukraine.

there's a lot to like, improvements to NHS, school breakfast clubs, 0 hour contracts, small boats, Trump war, great on foreign stage.

He did make some mistakes, when he won the election & people were sick of austerity he cut cold weather payments, he should have cut just for higher tax folk, similar farms inheritance tax in Gloucestershire we have farms being bought simply to avoid paying tax.

He's boring & wooden in front of a camera unlike Burnham but there's no hint of exploitation, he's been a good, honest pair of hands.

I'll be sorry to see him go but I just thought he lost the voters confidence by cutting cold weather payments and the right wing press/media, & I include the BBC, hammered him at every opportunity.

I think Burnham will be a more attractive personal proposition with a better chance for the next election but I'm ok about either being in charge.

valdali

3 things I liked:

Swallowed his pride & was "matey" with Trump, earning us a bit of a bye when stonking tariffs were introduced (& repealed & introduced again)

Said he was going to make unpopular decisions but he was going to do this because long-term stability for UK is better than personal acclaim for him.

Wasn't having any of it when Trump wanted us to join in Iran war.

Settled the long-running NHS strikes (I know the hospital docs have come back, but not as strong as grievances partially appeased)

Getting rid of 0 hour contracts & other exploitative work practices. some progress on small boats, renters right.

He listened re the WFP and restore it to most people, he stopped the riots and took very swift action in 2024 only a very short time after he was elected.

Laws passed

Recent landmark UK laws include the Crime and Policing Act tackling antisocial behaviour and serious crime, the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Act expanding child safeguarding, the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act, and the wide-reaching Employment Rights Act improving statutory rights and flexible working.These pieces of legislation—along with several key structural reforms—have reshaped employment, child welfare, and justice:Employment & BusinessEmployment Rights Act 2025: Gives employees day-one rights for statutory sick pay and parental leave, removes the two-year qualifying period for unfair dismissal (subject to probation), and bans exploitative "fire and rehire" practices.Product Regulation and Metrology Act: Updates product safety and standardisation, establishing a framework to handle modern AI and digital goods.Justice & SafetyCrime and Policing Act 2026: Toughens up laws surrounding offensive weapons, stalking, and public order, while increasing police and Border Force powers.Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act 2025: Overhauls the immigration system, bolstering border security and restricting illegal entry mechanisms.Family & EducationChildren's Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026: Increases the oversight of child welfare, introduces allergy safety mandates, and updates independent educational institution inspections.Pet Abduction Act: Criminalises the theft of cats and dogs with much higher jail sentences to deter pet thieves.Digital & ConsumerOnline Safety Act: Puts a strict range of new duties on social media companies to protect children and adults from harmful or illegal content.Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act: Tackles deceptive online practices by banning "drip pricing" at online checkouts and clamping down on fake reviews.

60,000 migrants deported since Starmer took up his role as MP, this is a mix of AS, criminals and overstayers.

Arrests & Disruptions: Arrests linked to people smuggling surged by more than 55% over the year to April 2026.

500 boats full of migrants disrupted and prevented from entering the UK since July 2024.

Starmer’s biggest issue is not blowing the trumpet of his, and his teams, achievements since he became PM.

He also prevented the UK armed forces from entering a pointless war in Iran!

Starmer’s biggest issue is not blowing the trumpet of his, and his teams, achievements since he became PM.

Yes, I think it was.

fancythat

^Starmer’s biggest issue is not blowing the trumpet of his, and his teams, achievements since he became PM.^

Yes, I think it was.

I agree. I think some of the policies were not well thought out such as the minimum wage increase for youngsters which has prevented some from getting their first job or holiday work.
But he gets a thumbs up from me for not dragging us into Trump’s stupid war.
He is calm and steady and I felt we were in safe hands generally.
It will be interesting to see who can do any better.

The "wolves" are definitely out, the press and some of the inner sanctum of the Labour party, it is definitely putting me off the Labour Party , I wasn't happy when Blair stepped aside for Brown and thought it was done via the backdoor as Gordon Brown while a good chancellor was not popular prime minister. We will see what happens this time, they are all full of promises until they get there. The only good thing will be Rachel Reeves will probably be one of the first to go.

Well done Cossy for listing the very real achievements of this administration.
However, I am disappointed in the way that KS and RR failed to "read the room" at the outset. WFA should have been made a taxable benefit, maybe phased in after that first year. And the double whammy imposed on businesses was too drastic, too soon. It was a blundering beginning, which is what people remember.
And Starmer should have got Burnham to stand in the Gorton and Denton by-election. At that time it would have been too soon for Burnham to challenge.
The journalists are being pretty kind to Burnham at the moment. I haven't heard any of them ask him about defence, possibly the most important issue currently.

I applaud his decision to introduce stricter controls on home education. I think this gets passed in September, so I hope he sees it through. 👍

I agree with others that he has been cloth-eared. I became fed up hearing his arrogant, "I get it" and "let's be crystal clear" when neither of those was true. 👎

Romola

Well done Cossy for listing the very real achievements of this administration.
However, I am disappointed in the way that KS and RR failed to "read the room" at the outset. WFA should have been made a taxable benefit, maybe phased in after that first year. And the double whammy imposed on businesses was too drastic, too soon. It was a blundering beginning, which is what people remember.
And Starmer should have got Burnham to stand in the Gorton and Denton by-election. At that time it would have been too soon for Burnham to challenge.
The journalists are being pretty kind to Burnham at the moment. I haven't heard any of them ask him about defence, possibly the most important issue currently.

I can only agree, knee jerk reactions and not thought properly through instant policies are normal doomed to failure

All we can do now is sit back and wait, frustrating as that is.

62Granny

The "wolves" are definitely out, the press and some of the inner sanctum of the Labour party, it is definitely putting me off the Labour Party , I wasn't happy when Blair stepped aside for Brown and thought it was done via the backdoor as Gordon Brown while a good chancellor was not popular prime minister. We will see what happens this time, they are all full of promises until they get there. The only good thing will be Rachel Reeves will probably be one of the first to go.

I did think Brown was an OK chancellor and, unlike Blair, I actually think overall Brown is a “good” person

However, wasn’t it he who sold off our gold reserves?

However, wasn’t it he who sold off our gold reserves?

It was, and it has made no difference whatsoever to the country or to the economy. The only real criticism that can be made is that he sold it when gold was cheap. But I can't think why he even bothered to do it.

Why does it bother you?

I'm afraid that Starmer really lost me when he made that dreadful 'island of strangers' speech and then, when he was rightly pulled up on it, claimed he hadn't actually read it before he delivered it.😱

No wonder he always sounded like an automaton when he made a speech if he didn't bother to even read them over first... Automatons do, of course, deliver other people's words without any idea of their meaning...

I think the premature departure of Starmer will be a grave mistake. Before we know where we are Burnham will be found to have committed some misdemeanour in the past or he will make an unpopular decision and it will start all over again. Bet you.

Remember when we all said that after years of Tory shenanigans we wanted honesty and we didn’t mind boring. Oh yes we did.

It's not so much Starmer who's boring (though he's no Boris) as the constant criticism of him on the media. But yes - well put winterwhite.
Be careful what you wish for.

There’s currently an online petition in support of KS remaining as PM. It’s at holdtheline.org.uk

Here’s the link:
holdtheline.org.uk/petition

In the words of Joni Mitchell … ‘you don’t know what you’ve got til it’s gone’!

But we do know what we’ve got LizzieDrip that’s the problem.
He has to go, and allow Burnham to guide the LP through the next three years.
Burnham has shown he can beat Reform.

Starmer;s main achievement in my eyes was in keeping us out of the Iran war and standing up to Trump despite personal insults. He also got some impressive pieces of legislation, including the Renters Rights Bill, through. On the whole he is far better on the international stage and would probably make a good Foreign Secretary. He did gain the name "Never Here Kier".

There were also some monumental blunders early on such as the WFA and the so called jobs tax attack on business. Not to mention the attack on farmers. We lay them down to Rachel from Accounts but it was on his watch. I will not be sorry to see that soar faced b....h go back to customer services.

Thank you for the lists, I'm hanging onto that useful summary for when there's a "they've done nothing" rants.

Oreo Burnham has shown he can beat Reform in one constituency, against a thick, inarticulate, misogynistic lad’s lad with a disgusting social media history.

Mmm, not that great really!

TBH, I’m surprised Count Binface didn’t beat Kenyon.

Who’s to say that other voters in three years time won’t vote for Burnham? Other voters then certainly wouldn’t be voting for Labour with Starmer in place.He’s become too unpopular.
Simple as that.

All I can say is be careful what you wish for.

For the first time we have a PM who is respected on the world stage after years of international embarrassment at the buffoonery and incompetence at the top of government, coupled a with disrespect for the law.

I do not think Starmer is perfect and I do not agree with some of his actions - but that is the nature of democracy - no one person can fulfill the hopes of every individual.

But he has been a steady hand on the tiller which is exactly what has been needed for many years. And he has quietly and determinedly kept us out of a war without causing a huge rift with the US - I can't think of anyone else who might have achieved this virtually impossible task. Without him our troops could have been dying and we might have found ourselves locked into a war with no end.

The back-stabbing and challenges have been whipped up by the media for whom Starmer has no appeal - he does not do mad headline-grabbing, media-satisfying things that sell papers and clicks online. He just gets on with the job.

Until we wean ourselves off this dependence on the media and flamboyant leaders we will never ever get stable governments, but condemn us all to this permanent roller-coaster of short-term thinking which militates against solid long term projects which are what the country needs.

His PR team have failed him and left the space wide open for sensation mad media folk.

For my money he has not been radical enough in his social reforms and has spent too much energy on trying to appease far right voters, but ...... what he has done is far and away better than what we had before and in my view he should have been left to finish the job.

The alternatives? ....
Streeting? - really? - can anyone seriously want him as PM?

.... or Burnham who has shown himself to be a devious back-stabber, letting down his Greater Manchester mayoral constituents, engaging in complicated machinations to get what he wants with no thought to those around him or his commitments, and generally showing himself to be intent only on feathering his own power- hungry nest.