Labour: The Keir Starmer years

[Madison]

 

[win_the_game]

Huzzah!

 

[win_the_game]

Now Rayner for deputy please.

 

[Soldi]

It was obvious but yes!

 

[Madison]

 

[win_the_game]

Now Rayner for deputy please.

And it’s confirmed.

 

[Ag]

Thank fuck. A rare glimmer of sanity.

 

[Ag]

So he won first round? Nice mandate hun.

 

[win_the_game]

That’s cheered me up no end. Finally some good news.

 

[win_the_game]

Goodbye Momentum!

 

[Ag]

Has there ever been a Labour leader with a Knighthood?

 

[VoR]

Well thank Fuck for that...

 

[Ag]

He got 56.2% of the vote

 

[Madison]

Has there ever been a Labour leader with a Knighthood?

Callaghan was knighted, but years after his stint.

EDIT: Wilson a few months after his resignation too.

 

[Dark Carnival]

Good to see we’re happy about this outcome. I really don’t know who he is

 

[win_the_game]

Well that's a thumping win for Sir Kier.

 

[Ag]

Good to see we’re happy about this outcome. I really don’t know who he is

Shadow Brexit secretary under Corbyn, centre left, former high ranking lawyer. Smart and considered. Media friendly. Thank fuck.

 

[Lucille]

Not that it matters but also EASY ON THE EYE.

 

[Loufoque]

My BF who has only a very passing interest in the UK and its politics beyond feeling that Theresa May was "genuine but out of her depth", Boris is "untrustworthy" and seeing "why people respond to Farage" promptly declared Starmer "uninspiring and not an election winner" this morning.

Can we fast forward to the next era already?

 

[octophone]

No left wing parties in England then. Centrist Labour, right wing Lib dems and far right Conservatives.

 

[VoR]

I have a lot of Corbyn-worshipping friends who are very much throwing their dummies out of the pram, but the scale of Starmer's victory gives me hope that the majority of the Labour base will support him and the party can finally at the very least not be so horribly dysfunctional moving forward.

 

[Dark Carnival]

Shadow Brexit secretary under Corbyn, centre left, former high ranking lawyer. Smart and considered. Media friendly. Thank fuck.

Sounds like a consensus to me, between Corbynistas and those wanting someone who appeals to a wider public.

 

[VoR]

"Starmer is a Blairite" is such a lazy take that I'm hearing a lot.

He worked closely with Corbyn for years, for the most part remarkably functionally given the circumstances. Labour has had a massive influx of young left wingers in the past five years. Yes, some will now drift away but I hope the majority will stay on and keep the good parts of the leftist agenda on the table.

We're not going back to 1997. It would be virtually impossible.

 

[Dark Carnival]

Sounds like a consensus to me, between Corbynistas and those wanting someone who appeals to a wider public.

No left wing parties in England then. Centrist Labour, right wing Lib dems and far right Conservatives.

Or maybe not

 

[win_the_game]

I have a lot of Corbyn-worshipping friends who are very much throwing their dummies out of the pram

That's always been the problem with Corbyn - his supporters. Momentum and the vocal student rabble were so unwilling to compromise or reach a consensus, they kicked off whenever things didn't go their way hence the deselection attempts and the like.

I'm seeing loads of comments from them saying they'll cancel their membership as Long-Bailey and Burgon lost. We BOMBED in the last election. Corbyn 2.0 is clearly not what the electorate want, nor the party membership.

 

[big ron]

I’m a big fan of Corbyn and all he stands for, but its clear his policies werent able to resonate with the people. He might be more centrist historically but its clear were going to need left of centre in the coming months and years anyway. In hindsight Corbyns policies might have been more relevant post covid19

 

[Madison]

Full results here:
https://labour.org.uk/people/leadership-elections-hub-2020/leadership-elections-2020-results/

Dr Allin-Khan was the runner up in the Deputy Race, Richard Burgon 3rd, Ian Murray 4th, Dawn Butler 5th.

 

[Ag]

I really hope Corbyn can be put firmly in the past now. It was a hopeful experiment that didn't work. Let's learn from that.

 

[Loufoque]

We're not going back to 1997. It would be virtually impossible.

So tired of seeing people shit on 1997. Ultra Naté called to remind you that 1997 was THAT year.

 

[GNL]

He wouldn't be my choice, he's a bit of a wet blanket, but I'll support Labour for as long as the Labour Party reflects the values of social justice, puts the climate crisis at the centre of policy and fights for the rights of the vulnerable.

Glad Angela Rayner is the deputy, she's a fantastic MP', was great in her last role, and she's personable, inspiring and has a lot of fight in her. In an ideal world she'd have run for leader, but maybe next time!

 

[octophone]

In hindsight Corbyns policies might have been more relevant post covid19

Well, the rail network is essentially be re-nationalised because all the companies are going bust. The NHS is now everyone's top priority and people are seeing the real extent of how underfunded it has been now that it has impacted them. The NHS staff who are dying include several non-UK nationals who are being hailed as heroes. A huge amount of Tory rhetoric is now looking totally against the mood of the nation - you'll notice they've had to hide Priti Patel in a cupboard because her nasty, degrading descriptions of people as "low skilled" and "economically inactive" are now completely off-message.

The trouble is, how we are going to rebuild will be in the hands of the selfish and the feckless. They are taking advice from Nazis, biological essentialists, racists and sociopaths.

A proper, robust opposition is a necessity. Starmer sops too easily to be that leader. He's The Guardian in human form.

That said, he's articulate, he's a decent orator (but then again, when the competition is Boris WiffWaffSpaff, it wouldn't be tricky to come over as such) and he's certainly committed.

But with an 80 Tory seat majority in the Commons, does it even matter?

 

[Ellie]

He's got kind of a Tony Blair/Tony Hadley stance about him.

 

[Kate]

I think "meh" sums up my feelings.

 

[jivafox]

He’s not going to stand a chance against Murdoch.

 

[Kate]

I thought the press were relatively favourable towards him.

 

[VoR]

 

[Penelope]

Or maybe not

Octophone's take is a bit off the mark, to put it lightly.

 

[Penelope]

I'd really recommend this profile on Starmer as a primer on the man. A lot of people have read an astonishing amount into his reticence.

https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk/2020/03/keir-starmer-sensible-radical

As for whether he's an election-winner - well, we're in the early days of an economy-shaking pandemic (and one which could plausibly lead to a national unity government being requested!), so I think anyone predicting anything with certainty from five years out is being a bit quick. But also, the matter of what makes a 'winner' isn't necessarily as straightforward as it would seem. Labour wouldn't have to be the biggest party for the electoral arithmetic to make a Labour-led coalition the only realistic option.

 

[Penelope]

Q: was the 'middle-class gays pretending to care about the poor' meant as a shot at the Corbyn supporters, or the Starmer supporters?

 

[Peekaboo]

TAKE A GUESS