To think Andy Burnham is smug?

I worked for him too in the noughties. He's a really decent man who - as you say - genuinely does have people's best interests at heart.

In those days, he came across as being quite humble, maybe all that 'king of the north' nonsense has gone to his head a little.

Obviously too early to tell, but I'm not sure he's going to be quite the saviour that certain parts of the Labour Party think he's going to be though.

The cronyism stinks. I’m not happy he is being imposed on us by the PLP without the slightest scrutiny.

I cannot see this ending well. Mark my words, more tax rises are coming.

@newmenewwhatever The clean air zone was the result of a Hight Court decision - it was a policy forced on AB. He objected to national (Tory) minsters and after a tussle is was abandoned.

Yes, he does want to be leader, he does want power. Does the desire to be leader automatically mean you shouldn’t be PM.? There’s a philosophical question there but it would mean we would only have people who didn’t want the job doing it, not the best way to run a country.

And so it begins. He's not even in office yet!

Do you work for the Telegraph OP? Or for Reform?

@Sensiblesal We’ve already had this conversation. No you don’t vote for the party you vote for the person. You may THINK, that you vote for the party. You may vote thinking it’s for a party. But. You. Are. Wrong.
The fact other people are wrong as well doesn’t make you right.

You say the position is being ‘bought’ implying financial corruption. Who has bought it? What money changed hands? Or is that just another inaccurate, insult you’re throwing out?

You say the leader should stay for a 4 year term. Parliament has a maximum 5 year term, we don’t have fixed terms. We don’t directly elect our leaders. If you want a new GE every time a PM resigns it would cost the country a fortune, increase political instability and you would absolutely get higher taxes.

The clue was in the the title, why bother opening it just to whinge about the thread?

I mean its not like Labour had any defined policies for the last GM & seemingly are still coming up with them as they go along so he will fit right in

Can I ask? Well I'm going to... obviously your choice whether to answer or not🤣🤣

were you eligible to vote in the maker field election?

if you were who did you vote for?

for my very distanced pic as much as I don't want him fir PM, he seemed like the least worst option.

in some ways it'll be better if he slides into the PM position, in other ways a leadership election seems like a better idea, but I've NO idea who I'd prefer! He'll be one smug bastard if he wins one though.

What does he stand for? What are his policies?

It’s shocking , he has no mandate and based on returning as an MP after being the mayor for years , he thinks he can skip in and be PM. Don’t think he will be any better than Keir , he is also for the north - not quite sure what that means as he is meant to represent the country

I want him as PM. Let’s give him a chance.

I’m sure him as PM and Milliband as chancellor are just what our country needs right now? 🙄

I never know what smug means. I only ever hear it on Mumsnet.

Yep.

saw a clip of him at Manchester Train station & thought the exact same.

he hasn’t even won the leadership contest but acting as if he has.

To be honest the whole thing reeks. We all knew what was going to happen, its been over the media for weeks.

It seems like the voting public don’t actually matter anymore. 7 PM’s in 10yrs is a disgrace.

It feels like the position is being bought. The whole election process needs reform, yes we are voting the party in not the person but if the term is for 4yrs that leader should be leading for that time. There is more time spent backstabbing & politicians jostling for positions than on actual work for the good of the people being done.

Lets all celebrate the higher taxes that are incoming though

YANBU, he is almost as smug as Streeting. The combination of Burnham, Streeting, Rayner and Miliband will be terrible.

Every by-election since the 2024 GE would suggest not.

Ha

@Lyra25 What about him says smug to you?
He may be an opportunist, but I can't say about smugness.

Proof? The way this contesting of the leadership has been handled and he's been manufactured into the role to take over. It's like the bloody Roman Empire with all the caesars stabbing each other in the back.

@midwalker I don’t think he will make a massive change in policy I think he will project it differently. The people of the U.K. have takes a strong dislike to Starmer despite the good things he has done, immigration is falling significantly, he has legislated on workers rights, the NHS is improving. I don’t think the Labour Party can get past that. AB is a better communicator.
God help us we have to have a PM that is chosen based on his communication skills, and how good looking he is but here we are.

Theresa May immediately called an election and lost their majority

A Prime Minister's job is not to put their personal ideas in place, or to force through policies that they personally want to happen. They are the figurehead of the party in Government, one which has been elected MP by MP by the electorate, and it is the Government's policies they need to follow, not their own personal game plan.

@Lyra25I didn’t say he didn’t look smug - I said it’s IRRELEVANT. I have sneaky feeling the people commenting on eyebrows, haircut etc may not be 100% serious. There is an outside possibility some people may be taking the piss.
Some of those naughty, naughty people might just be northerners. Although, it can be difficult to type with a pie in one hand and pint in the other.

This is a a different situation though. all the previous times this has happened, the incoming PM was part of the team at the election date and so was party to the election manifesto. They have simply reshuffled into a different role which happens to be the top job.

AB was not. He has only just got elected. It is very bizarre a man off the street (albeit mayor of Manchester but that is unconnected to central government ) can go from doing a completely different job to being PM without any scrutiny or mandate is, quite frankly bonkers.

@Greenleavesandsunshine I am well aware of all of that including that we vote for an MP, not a party. I misspoke. You don’t need to condescendingly explain parliamentary democracy or constitutional monarchy to me.

You have just said yourself in that post that people need to understand that no PM is going to fix our problems in five years. So why does Andy Burnham and his team think we need yet another change of PM and he is somehow different than the previous six PMs?