Starmer is gone, but Labour is still losing voters to Reform and the Greens. Can Andy Burnham rebuild the coalition — or will he simply repackage the same failed direction?
I'd be very surprised if the King of the North (aka My 2nd Favourite War Criminal After David Milliband) will be any more popular than old Kiki Stammer. Just because Burnham has been out of Westminster for some 10 years doesn't make him a clean pair of hands. He's one of Blair's Boys. He's a Labour Together man. A bloke who thinks all that old fashioned renationalisation, tax the rich, welcome the foreigners, target the toffs stuff is still what people want. He represents no one - maybe some Mancunians who got a few good contracts, a couple of old boys with flat caps and whippets and a few diehard old leftwing socialist middle-class fools (Hugh Grant?). So he's just Starmer Mk II with longer eyelashes. Nobody voted for him outside of Makerfield. Nobody knows what his manifesto would be. If he's got any cojones he would immediately call for a snap election. But he won't.
Spot on, Steve. The "at least he’s not the last guy" strategy only gets you so far before people start asking what you actually stand for. Cheers for sharing your thoughts!
Worse than Starmer
It certainly feels like Labour is trading one massive headache for another. Thanks for reading, Gillian.
I'd be very surprised if the King of the North (aka My 2nd Favourite War Criminal After David Milliband) will be any more popular than old Kiki Stammer. Just because Burnham has been out of Westminster for some 10 years doesn't make him a clean pair of hands. He's one of Blair's Boys. He's a Labour Together man. A bloke who thinks all that old fashioned renationalisation, tax the rich, welcome the foreigners, target the toffs stuff is still what people want. He represents no one - maybe some Mancunians who got a few good contracts, a couple of old boys with flat caps and whippets and a few diehard old leftwing socialist middle-class fools (Hugh Grant?). So he's just Starmer Mk II with longer eyelashes. Nobody voted for him outside of Makerfield. Nobody knows what his manifesto would be. If he's got any cojones he would immediately call for a snap election. But he won't.
So the adults are back in the room again! The only reason they are welcoming Burnham like the messiah is that he's not Kier Starmer.
Spot on, Steve. The "at least he’s not the last guy" strategy only gets you so far before people start asking what you actually stand for. Cheers for sharing your thoughts!