Active discussions

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Labour lost two recent Council by elections in Burnley (4th November) Is this a concerning omen for the Labour Party

40 replies

Mitochondriapowerhouse · 08/11/2025 19:38

AIBU in thinking this is the shape of things to come in elections in May 2026? Why isn’t this being mentioned in the press as is very worrying for the Labour party

OP posts:
New posts on this thread. Refresh page
Loopylalalou · 07/04/2026 16:32

Let’s hope they lose more. Deluded, inept, arrogant
and self-serving bunch they are.

RoyalImpatience · 07/04/2026 07:37

I shall be voting tactically to stop labour.

RoyalImpatience · 07/04/2026 07:36

@StrongLikeMamma really ? All I've heard from them is all our problems now are due to Tory 14 years ? To the point they seem to think it's absolving them of all problems ...let's blame the torys

ProudAmberTurtle · 07/04/2026 07:35

Tactical voting is a terrible idea - it means you only vote AGAINST parties and not FOR any party.

This means the best result is you get a party that nobody wants, has no ideology and is incompetent.

Cromwell1905 · 07/04/2026 07:29

StrongLikeMamma · 06/04/2026 18:33

People need to vote tactically to prevent us ending up like the US:

https://stopreformuk.vote/

Voting tactically allows the parties to continue to act however they want and not devise policies that the nation wants, tactical voting lets them off the hook and anyone who does this should hang their heads in shame.

Do you want a party that represents what you value and you want or do you just want what you see as the least bad option.

don’t give in to weak parties that do not care about the electorate, do not be a coward !

MsGreying · 06/04/2026 14:33

ilovesooty · 08/11/2025 20:12

Here we go again.

There are rather a lot of people in Burnley predisposed towards Reform I think.

Wasn't there a green elected in rossendale?

Loopylalalou · 09/11/2025 09:11

Cromwell1905 · 08/11/2025 20:02

They have said nothing but, continually of a profession that can never take responsibility and admit they are wrong this lot have won the World Cup.

I will not vote Labour again because they cannot take responsibility Rachel reeves blaming everything but her when she needs to take responsibility for her last budget is childish and pathetic.

Edited
Show quote history

This.
How anyone can continue to support this set of mad clowns is beyond me. They’re harming this country in many ways.

FeelinTwentySixPointTwo · 09/11/2025 08:57

I'm confused - is this Reform or independents who won there? seems the latter

Independents won both seats. Interesting that everyone just presumed Reform though.

Original poster
Mitochondriapowerhouse · 08/11/2025 22:30

@Peridoteage I haven’t been back to Burnley for a long time but I have fond memories. I suppose I’m out of touch as I’m no longer living up north

OP posts:
Original poster
Mitochondriapowerhouse · 08/11/2025 22:28

I was born in Tasmania but moved to Burnley as a child

OP posts:
Peridoteage · 08/11/2025 22:15

Op when were you born in Burnley & have you spent much time there the past twenty years?

nearlylovemyusername · 08/11/2025 22:15

StrongLikeMamma · 08/11/2025 21:29

There’s a bunch of racist flag shaggers in a small northern town? Hardly news is it?

Show quote history

I'm confused - is this Reform or independents who won there? seems the latter

OP, I hope it's bad omen and May 26 will be a time of reckoning, but this bunch of idiots won't understand why, they will try to out-Reform instead. Too stupid to look in the mirror

Peridoteage · 08/11/2025 22:13

Ive family from that way and Im not surprised at all.

The changes in that town over the past 40 years, its exactly the sort of place turns to reform.

Original poster
Mitochondriapowerhouse · 08/11/2025 22:12

I think Farage as the next PM would be a total disaster. I’m trying to work out how Labour are getting it so wrong in my former hometown

OP posts:
Abhannmor · 08/11/2025 22:08

StrongLikeMamma · 08/11/2025 19:44

Yes! Because they won’t just be honest and say that this fucking mess the Tories made of our country over 14 years is going to take a LONG time to fix!
Lay out their plans and stop bloody parroting reform! This is losing votes rapidly and the racist twats won’t vote for them anyway.

Oh and sack the comms team too Keir! FFS 🙄🙄🙄

Correct 💯. Put a human being in front of a camera. Some one who can tell the truth using plain speech and don't sugar coat it. Ditch all the focus group cobblers. Keep it simple , stupid . KISS for short. And repeat it for the hard of thinking. When you do something good you must shout it out very loud too. Because the right wing media sure as hell won't. They have already anointed Farage as the next PM.
Raise taxes fairly. Build houses. The end.

Summerhillsquare · 08/11/2025 22:07

"Why isn't this being mentioned in the press?" Are you for real? It's labour bashing all day long, except when it's immigrants or socialists popping up elsewhere.

boys3 · 08/11/2025 21:53

Mitochondriapowerhouse · 08/11/2025 20:12

I notice it was an extremely low voting turnout (27%) I wonder if people are now totally apathetic

for a council by-election 27% seems par for for the course. Turnout in the local council elections back in May weren’t much higher at about 32% overall.

Original poster
Mitochondriapowerhouse · 08/11/2025 21:47

@Iwantitidontwantit I agree, they are dividing the country. I’ve no idea who I’d vote for now. I’ve always voted Labour

OP posts:
Iwantitidontwantit · 08/11/2025 21:46

Labour are absolutely in trouble. Life long Labour voter, I wanted to vote Green last time but was desperate to remove my Conservative MP so went with Labour.

They've alienated those on the left and more centrist voters. Honestly not sure who their voting base would be now.

ilovesooty · 08/11/2025 21:43

StrongLikeMamma · 08/11/2025 21:29

There’s a bunch of racist flag shaggers in a small northern town? Hardly news is it?

Show quote history

I haven't forgotten the "White Lives Matter" banner that was flown by a helicopter over the football club.

Original poster
Mitochondriapowerhouse · 08/11/2025 21:41

@StrongLikeMamma as far as I know it’s definitely not “far right racist flag shaggers” that have influenced the vote in Burnley

OP posts:
Original poster
Mitochondriapowerhouse · 08/11/2025 21:36

@StrongLikeMamma Burnley (my birth town hence my interest ) has had a long history of having a Labour stronghold for many decades so I’m wondering why they are losing popularity now.

OP posts:
StrongLikeMamma · 08/11/2025 21:29

Mitochondriapowerhouse · 08/11/2025 20:01

I wonder if no one is noticing these results as it’s a northern town which slips under the radar of most people

There’s a bunch of racist flag shaggers in a small northern town? Hardly news is it?

FeelinTwentySixPointTwo · 08/11/2025 21:08

These aren't parliamentary by-elections for MPs and they're not even County Council elections - this is a second tier borough council election and these are never picked up by the national media. Mainly because a) they happen all the time and b) unless they mean a change of council overall control they're not very interesting.

It's wrong to say it hasn't been picked up by the media at all though, as I can see the local press have reported on it as they usually would.

Is it indicative of a national swing to Independents? From the looks of it, not really (aside from the fall in the Labour vote share). I don't think Independents beating Reform into second place is what we're going to see nationally. While it's certainly not great news for Labour; borough council elections are also never truly indicative of how people would vote in a general election.