Why the Labour Party will not elect a woman

Why,Ariadne?

Because it is wholly irrelevant and as another poster mentioned an example of little anti-trans digs

And who in their right mind would want to reopen coal mines?

Who is arguing to re-open the mines? Isn’t the argument for proper investment in those communities that were left with nothing when they closed?

www.google.com/amp/s/www.pinknews.co.uk/2018/10/19/question-time-trans-woman-applause-question-time-speech/amp/

Keir Starmer mentions discussion of trans rights need to take into account women's safety considerations.

I like Jess Phillips and Lisa Nandy too but would be happy with Keir Starmer. I'd just be overjoyed if it isn't another Corbyn-style candidate.

I am sick of people blaming Thatcher for closing mines. The previous Labour government actually closed MORE mines than she did!
And who in their right mind would want to reopen coal mines? To dig out yet more fossil fuel, increase carbon emissions, and provide dirty dangerous jobs with long term lung disease as a bonus?
Neither Labour nor the Tories invested sufficiently in the north, post industrialisation. But Labour took their votes for granted - Boris knows he has to come up with genuine improvements, or those new votes will not stay Tory past the next election. I’d say the north has much to gain from a Tory government at the moment.

Why, Ariadne? The Labour party doesn't believe in sex. Men can become women, women can become men. The op thinks the next leader should be a woman. But the party they will be leading doesn't believe there's any difference between a woman born with a penis and a woman born with a vagina, so if KS IDs as a woman he is a woman, and therefore the OPs problem is resolved. Ta da!

Those comments are idiotic in the context of this thread.

But consistent. Surely you must have noticed the little anti-trans digs that pop up all over the forums?

Can we feminists think of any reason why the first female leader and one of the few women politicians of her age might have been so especially monstered by the left? Hmmm, I wonder. What could it be?

Wtf? How old are you?

Anyone who thinks that Thatcher is hated by the left because of sexism really needs to do a bit of reading.

noblegiraffe, I don't think Labour has a clue what it wants to do, but there are definitely some who are still very wedded to Corbynite idealism, and whether or not RLB chose the picture isn't the point when that is clearly the general vision certain voices are calling for.

I've been reading loads of different groups and opinions on this, and while I accept that not every person in the Labour party is out of touch, thank god, some are, and I was astounded to read only yesterday a Labour party member I know still posting diatribes about the stupid working class people in old mining communities voting Tory and how their lives would be blighted by it and ha ha on them.

If that's still a strong strand of influence as Labour chooses a new leader, then why on earth would anyone think they deserved to be anywhere near power in ten years, let alone 5?

Don't worry, perhaps Keir Starmer can identify as a woman, that'll fix it

Absolutely! TWAW after all

Those comments are idiotic in the context of this thread.

Britain is so backwards - always banging on about the good old days down the mines and at the factories - they are gone now move on!

The problem is the people in those areas can't move on because nothing permanent has been done to replace the jobs that were lost when the mines closed. This is the reason they now feel so ignored and disenfranchised. Labour's biggest failing was not to make long term improvements in their lives, and to not successfully argue against the idea that the Tories could swoop in and save the people they condemned in the first place.

To be fair to Long Bailey, I do think she understands this, but she fails to understand the fact that, historically, British people have been repelled by what they see as the hard left. There has not been such a tradition in the British labour movement, and if you look at the origins of the Labour party it's quite clear that it is very different to socialist parties in other parts of the world.

In an ideal world I wouldn't want Starmer as the Labour leader, but I'm realistic enough to understand that he is the one who most likely to make the Labour party electable. I like Jess Phillips, but she is divisive. Long Bailey as leader would be such a disaster I'm not sure the party could ever come back.

It worked really well for the LibDems, didn’t it?

I find the “must be a woman” very patronising - especially as Labour are entering such a difficult time. Theresa May was allowed to lead the Conservatives because of the mess they were in.

Labour need the best person for the job, not some stupid quota fulfilment that is being pushed by people outside the Party.
That person may well be a woman; it doesn’t matter if it’s not.

I’d prefer a woman but Keir Starmer is probably more electable to mondeo man in middle England

Don't let critical thinking get in the way of spouting narrow minded stereotypes

Plenty of misogynistic voters out there who won’t vote for a woman because she’s a woman

I would not vote for RLB because she is ideologically a Corbyn clone; her sex has nothing to do with it. On the other hand I am never going to vote for a candidate simply because she is a woman.

Don't worry, perhaps Keir Starmer can identify as a woman, that'll fix it.

Absolutely! TWAW after all.

Don't worry, perhaps Keir Starmer can identify as a woman, that'll fix it.

Floral I’m pretty sure RLB didn’t choose that photo, so I’m not sure you can say Labour is ‘connecting themselves to a vision of macho miners’.

If you’re bored of talk about miners, wait till Ian Lavery throws his hat in the ring.

Thatcher absolutely devastated those communities. Tore them apart. If they are now thinking that the Tories are the better bet to save them, then Labour really needs to address that.

Undoubtedly, but I think the point is that the mines are part of a painful past, not a solution to the difficulties of the future. If people in communities devastated by the closure of the mines by the Tory government are so disconnected to Labour that they are now voting Tory because they think that Johnson offers more hope for the future, then Labour connecting themselves to a vision of macho miners from the past as some sort of signal that they are the party of the working class just looks like empty ID Pol with no ideas about what the working class wants moving forward.

Britain is so backwards - always banging on about the good old days down the mines and at the factories - they are gone now move on! And everyone voted as a leader always seems to be a rich posh privately educated person - regardless of party or sex 😂 says something about the whole country rather than just the Labour Party tbh - the conservatives aren’t less sexist or better just because the had woman leaders before - the woman leaders were horrible & unrelatable to most people anyway.

For me, I'd love to see Jess Phillips but I think the only way to be electable at the moment is for a centrist like Keir Starmer if I'm honest.

I think that she is great too but still parrots that TWAW and will bow to the wokerati. Anyone know Starmer's stance on this?

I hope he wins otherwise Labour will be in the wilderness for quite some time. He gives them a chance at being a more decent opposition.

For me, I'd love to see Jess Phillips but I think the only way to be electable at the moment is for a centrist like Keir Starmer if I'm honest.

I’d prefer a woman but Keir Starmer is probably more electable to mondeo man in middle England

Plenty of misogynistic voters out there who won’t vote for a woman because she’s a woman

Why are they still talking about the mines?

If you don’t know why they are still talking about the mines then I’m not sure you understand the significance of what happened in places like Bolsover voting Tory in December.

Thatcher absolutely devastated those communities. Tore them apart. If they are now thinking that the Tories are the better bet to save them, then Labour really needs to address that.

Keir Starmer is the safe blairite candidate that people whose socialism is only as deep as winning their seat will want to elect.

And he may well lead the party out of the mess that it is in now after Corbyn and Momentum have destroyed it.