To wish Sir Keir and his wife would not hold hands when working

I've been impressed at how confident and self-assured he's appeared ever since he won the election

I agree. To me, just my humble opinion, he comes across relaxed but earnest, serious but unperturbed and not the slightest bit terrified. Not even an ounce. Given Labour has hit the ground running, I imagine a lot of work has gone into 'if we win, we will do this...' and it shows. Completely at ease with himself and his position.

'No mention of the Johnsons, the Sunaks, Charles and Camilla, and all the other hand-holdy folk.'

There's been mention. Have you read the thread hun?

Do you mean shaking his hand in greeting? No that isn't odd that is a sociatal norm. If they were partners and they were wandering about clasping hands like they were on date when actually on official business yes that would be cringe.

I've no idea why some folk are struggling to get it. Holding hands fine, not whilst carrying out a role in an official capacity though. And yes, once again same goes for Mr and Mrs Sunak etc etc.etc 💤💤

👏

I too think the fixation on handholding is strange, particularly given that the OP has never posted on Mumsnet under this user name before and oddly for someone politically left of centre has in the first sentence associated Starmer with other objects of right-wing vitriol - the Macrons, the Obamas and the Sussexes. No mention of the Johnsons, the Sunaks, Charles and Camilla, and all the other hand-holdy folk.

I completely agree with other posters that this is entirely politically motivated. I have been on Mumsnet for years and have never seen a post about handholding political leaders before.

And of course objectively Starmer does not look terrified, uncomfortable or as if he is about to wet himself. He looks like perfectly self-assured middle-aged man who has spent years speaking in public.

"clutching"

That would be odd.

Why do you think holding hands with a person means they're clutching each other?

Oh look, Starmer’s holding Macron’s hand in one of those pictures. Is that “cringe”?

grumpy Tory alert!

Lovely and very relevant. We haven't heard that one before have we.

Oh my siiiiiides all the lolz!

It just goes to show how much of it is down to prejudice the eye of the beholder.

I'm no Starmer supporter (I'm on record as saying I'll never ever vote for him) but I have to say I've been impressed at how confident and self-assured he's appeared ever since he won the election.

Ah, so it's just your opinion. They do say that opinions are like anal orifices in that we all have one.

🤣🤣🤣

Now that is cringe!

Now @Janiie be honest, you would hold Boris hand if you got the chance

I used to get 8 weeks off to spend with my husband as he worked abroad

Is it not better that an employer comes and goes with people rather than people having to resign and they are lost from the system?

My friend d is a consultant , she has three months off every year to visit her family in Malaysia, it was either that or she left the NHS and went private

Yep. Cringe with a capital C.

'Could you post one of the pictures of him that have made you think he looks terrified so I can understand your perspective?'

Just Google him. Every appearance he looks awkward, faux grinning, not confident or comfortable in his own skin. I'm not an Angela Rayner or a Reeves fan but they ooze self confidence. Maybe there's a body coach expert in No. 10 who can give him some tips?

@Janiie i just found this - could you tell me which ones you think he looks terrified (or even mildly perturbed) in please? Brace yourself for cringe though as he’s holding his wife’s hand in one and standing awfully close to her in another.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/gallery/2024/jul/11/keir-starmer-washington-in-pictures

Vitriolic crap because he looks self assured and confident and anyone without a massive bias would see that. Sunak and May did too. Johnson was chaotic. I disliked them all to various degrees but I didn’t go round posting nonsense like they look ‘terrified’ because they behaved in a perfectly normal way. Could you post one of the pictures of him that have made you think he looks terrified so I can understand your perspective?
Saying you think any leader is ‘cringe’ if holding hands is a bit odd to be honest, but given you’ve felt this for so long it’s even odder that you are only making a big deal of it now Starmer has done it.

I have been here about the same time I remember it slightly differently. The biscuit thing was Brown though?

That is a long time ago

SM has grown hugely with users and content since then

I joined in 2006 and I can assure you that among the light stuff there was also some very hard-hitting stuff - especially when it came to politics. Back in the day when we were courted by prime ministers!

I've been on MN since 2002

I used to be able to go to lunch and then read all the new posts when I came back

There was plenty of hard hitting discussion back then, in amongst solid advice and "light" stuff.

What there was a lot more of were threads starting on one topic and then morphing into a discussion about something completely different

It was part of the joy of Mumsnet

For light relief and taking the long view, will this be remembered like an even more shocking event over a hundred years ago in another American city?

Yep I know when I joined.

The media plus SM loop is far more effective now

In any case the pp who doesn’t want this type of thread appearing will find it hard to control