Labour has more than 400 MPs, a huge majority and a sitting Prime Minister. So why is the party already looking to a mayor outside Westminster for answers?
The answer appears to be a resounding ‘no ‘ - as you state, Jamie , a sorry state of affairs that amongst the 400+ Labour MPs , there is not at least a couple or so legitimate and convincing alternatives to Starmer. However, they are patently rudderless and have clearly lost their voting base - all that’s left is the metropolitan elite as evidenced by the seats in Cardiff they won at the senedd election
Perhaps the wider question should be - “ what’s the point of Labour ? “
Spot on, Huw. When a party with a 400+ majority is looking over its shoulder at a regional mayor to find some electoral magic, "what's the point of Labour?" isn't just a wider question—it's the question. It feels less like a governing strategy and more like a permanent identity crisis.
The answer appears to be no, the Labour government doesn't have anyone to replace Keir Starmer. They didn't have anyone before Starmer, which is why he got the leadership job. People like Wes Streeting or Angela Rayner are even weaker and less appealing to the public than Starmer and there don't appear to be any heavyweights lurking on the back benches. Most people can't name anyone in the Cabinet apart from the ones who appear in the news for embarrassing reasons. The Labour government is full of people who don't even agree on what the party stands for any longer - the ethnic people who mostly seem to be there to protest when an ethnic issue arises, the SPAD turned MP who could easily belong to any party, the odd useless dinosaur like Yvette Cooper who hangs around until given a job. None of them have deep passions about politics do they? It's apparently just a job until the next job. So Andy Burnham is a fool - it's not even a safe Labour seat anymore is it? Didn't Reform take the council elections? He's going from King of the North to wannabe King of Westminster. I wonder what odds the bookies are offering!
You've hit on the big gamble here. Trading the "King of the North" crown for a seat on the Westminster backbenches is a massive roll of the dice, especially in a seat like Makerfield where the political ground is shifting fast underfoot. As for the bookies' odds, I suspect they are keeping a very close eye on the Greater Manchester exit door!
The answer appears to be a resounding ‘no ‘ - as you state, Jamie , a sorry state of affairs that amongst the 400+ Labour MPs , there is not at least a couple or so legitimate and convincing alternatives to Starmer. However, they are patently rudderless and have clearly lost their voting base - all that’s left is the metropolitan elite as evidenced by the seats in Cardiff they won at the senedd election
Perhaps the wider question should be - “ what’s the point of Labour ? “
Spot on, Huw. When a party with a 400+ majority is looking over its shoulder at a regional mayor to find some electoral magic, "what's the point of Labour?" isn't just a wider question—it's the question. It feels less like a governing strategy and more like a permanent identity crisis.
The answer appears to be no, the Labour government doesn't have anyone to replace Keir Starmer. They didn't have anyone before Starmer, which is why he got the leadership job. People like Wes Streeting or Angela Rayner are even weaker and less appealing to the public than Starmer and there don't appear to be any heavyweights lurking on the back benches. Most people can't name anyone in the Cabinet apart from the ones who appear in the news for embarrassing reasons. The Labour government is full of people who don't even agree on what the party stands for any longer - the ethnic people who mostly seem to be there to protest when an ethnic issue arises, the SPAD turned MP who could easily belong to any party, the odd useless dinosaur like Yvette Cooper who hangs around until given a job. None of them have deep passions about politics do they? It's apparently just a job until the next job. So Andy Burnham is a fool - it's not even a safe Labour seat anymore is it? Didn't Reform take the council elections? He's going from King of the North to wannabe King of Westminster. I wonder what odds the bookies are offering!
You've hit on the big gamble here. Trading the "King of the North" crown for a seat on the Westminster backbenches is a massive roll of the dice, especially in a seat like Makerfield where the political ground is shifting fast underfoot. As for the bookies' odds, I suspect they are keeping a very close eye on the Greater Manchester exit door!