AIBU - Keir Starmer's ok - getting rid of him wouldn't help Labour

Personally think they’ve always needed someone like Burnham and this is the time for him to move in. He’s done a fantastic job in Manchester and I think he’d replicate that well nationally.

I think this is a good and fair commentary on what is happening and what went before.

I think he’s ok and I don’t actually think a new PM right now will solve things.

I think he’s been very good on the international stage, especially with Trump - I dread to think what Johnson or Farage’s response to the situation with the US would be, I’d personally rather have someone calm and with the ability to say no in these situations.

I don’t think everything is perfect by any means.

The Mandleson situation is a complete disaster. I don’t think voting to not have an inquiry into how it happened was the right decision.

People want to see a level of transparency and I think had that been allowed to go through I think it would’ve been better for perceptions.

It won’t happen but I think he’d be better trying to find a way to work with Burnham than against him, blocking him standing in Gorton lost them that seat and he should see the bigger picture that Burnham is more popular and overall for Labour it would be good to have him in Westminster.

I don't think a new leader is the answer at all, but the Labour party need to go back to being the champions of the working class. All Labour are doing to the working class is making their lives harder right now, and giving more and more handouts from a crumbling welfare state.

It doesn't take a genius to work out that before long we won't have enough working people to pay taxes to support those who can't/won't work.

I'm centre right and I want him to stay until the election (which they'll lose) as whoever comes next will undoubtedly be worse.

Labour will be out of power for many years after the next election, deservedly so. They had 14 years in opposition to come up with some decent policies and they've failed. The cabinet is the least impressive in the last 50 years. Look at the talent in Tony Blair's government compared to now.

Starmer lost support when he labelled protesters after Southport "far right" and it's been downhill every since.

i agree. I want some stability.

I agree with this.

I don't care if he is uncharismatic or boring. Boring is good compared to the freak show of so-called charismatic leaders around.

It’s not this. As @LizzieSiddalpp its worth listening to feedback on Starmer.

Agreed, and it’s been reported just this week that Farage was gifted £5m, so Starmers gifts seem insignificant compared to that figure.

I am with you on desperately not wanting a leadership change. Stability is needed more than anything else.

I saw a Labour spokesperson yesterday explain they need to create a coalition at the centre to win votes from the left and right but it doesn't feel like that's what they're doing. I imagine I'm the kind of voter they want- my instincts lean left but I generally vote centre-left. I've previously been a Labour party member. However, I see them dismissing appealing to Green voters because that would be too extreme, while chasing hard after reform loudest voters. I'm never going to vote for a party that pretends climate change isn't an issue, sound-bites that SEN is overdiagnosed or talks about stopping the boats and describes asylum seekers as illegal immigrants rather than having a proper grown up conversation about the negative impacts of immigration and how we tackle these.

Reform voters are never going to be won over by attempts to implement Reform policies because the reality of delivering these things is very different to radical soundbites.

They need a rational Labour plan and narrative. I don't want to see election campaigns fought by smear campaigns, I want them to deserve to win.

Have you been listening to the commentary yesterday from Labour MPs and councillors? They admitted the dislike for Starmer comes up on the doorstep more than policies as the reason for not voting Labour.
Once your usual voters refuse to vote for you, you need to do the decent thing and resign.

Is ok what we want in these difficult times?

I agree with you. I do also think Andy Burnham might be a better PM, he has more charisma and seems to achieve a lot. Something has to be done so we don't have a reform landslide next election, because as a disabled person that's the end for me.

I’ve been listening to a fair amount of radio (Times in particular) and they’re really close to the elections.

They interview loads of people on why and a fair few Labour MPs and canvassers have talked about the deep dislike for Starmer coming up on the doorstep.

I get they’re sticking for now, AB is probably the only other option and he’s not close to being in place. They also have market watch. But if they want to keep driving voters to Reform, Greens and other Starmer helps with that.

“Boris Johnson, who left parliament in June 2023, made headlines last year for receiving the biggest donation to an MP on record after a single contribution of £1 million.
Johnson also received a donation worth £23,853 from the JCB boss, Anthony Bamford, and his wife Carole, to pay for elements of his 2021 wedding.
As prime minister, Johnson took an estimated £52,000 worth of donations to renovation his Downing Street flat in a saga that became known as wallpapergate. The ex-PM later said he had repaid all the money back.

https://www.politics.co.uk/news/2024/10/08/boris-johnson-criticises-greedy-keir-starmer-over-freebies/

You know, this isn't true, Johnson was gifted more than a million pounds. He is a professional grifter. Makes Starmer look positively amateurish.

I can't really believe so many people have missed his grifting scandals and cling to the lie that Starmer is a decent man who follows the rules. I wonder if they'd turn round and call Reform voters uneducated when the ignorance displayed here is shocking. No, Johnson was not worse than Starmer, let's finally stop pretending that's the case because the self-delusion is really boring now. Let's also stop pretending Starmer has to stay for stability after the baying for every Tory PM to go. I don't care who goes myself, I can't stand hypocrisy.

I think KS is useless, non-committal, doesn't really stand for anything, or say anything. But that is a Labour party problem too. Who do they represent? It's not working people anymore. Wokers are just tax cows to be milked to pay the wild welfare bill. Which KS was going to reform before he bottled it.

I'm no fan of Tony Blair but he understood that you need to look after the centre ground.

Completely agree with this. If Labour want to do better in future elections then they need to get rid of the problem that’s making voters support other parties. If they stay as they are then they can expect a repeat of Thursdays results.

I also am interested in what people are seeing that I’m not.

Starmer is unfit to govern the country. He is a proven liar, a deceitful man, focused on what he can personally gain and has shown the world that paedophile connections and actual sex offendors are welcome in the Labour Party.

He is also the king of freebies:

Sky News' Westminster Accounts project revealed he has been gifted more freebies and hospitality than any other MP since 2019 - a total worth £107,145. These donations include an unspecified donation of accommodation worth £20,437, "work clothing" worth £16,200, and multiple pairs of glasses equivalent to £2,485.

He has received £12,588 of gifts from the Premier League, numerous hospitality tickets to Arsenal matches costing well over £10,000 in total, plus two Euros finals tickets costing £1,628 and thousands of pounds' worth of tickets from other Premier League clubs.

Four tickets to a Taylor Swift concert totalling £4,000.

He received £700,000 in undeclared donations orchestrated by Labour Together, the group behind his leadership and headed by his recently resigned chief of staff, the highly suspect Morgan McSweeney.

He accepted free accommodation for his son to study for his GCSEs...long after his exams had finished!

He appointed Mandelson as special ambassador to the US because he knew that Mandelson and Trump go way back (to Epstein Island, of course).

He breached parliamentary rules by 'failing to declare' that some of his wife's high-end clothes were bought for her by his biggest personal donor, Lord Alli.

Labour and lobbyists: Starmer’s policies shaped by bankers and consultants, investigation reveals | openDemocracy https://share.google/KkR4MaxWDTTT1B5j4