New PM

@TheLassWiADelicateAir

But it weakened Brown and I think May considerably.

Why? John Major took over in 1990, sat out the remaining 2 years of that Parliament until 1992 and then won an election.

We don't elect PMs.

👏👏👏👏

But that's nonsense. That's not how the UK system works.

No-one would black people to put their issues aside and vote for a racist who wants to take away their right to vote because all the other policies are great.

No-one would tell disabled people to hush up and vote for someone who is going to do everything right except requiring all disabled peol to be sterilised.

No-one would tell people over the age of 65 to vote for someone who wants to bring in compulsory euthanasia at the age of 75 because the policies will benefit everyone else.

Any yet so many people are willing to tell women to vote for someone who wants to dismantle their very existence under law and take away safeguards put in place specifically to protect them from men who want to do them harm.

Not just on this board when it comes to women who care, but you’ll just have to vote in accordance with your views as others do.

I have a line that I’m not willing to cross and I’m very glad others feel the same

@DeadbeatYoda

I think it is you who have misunderstood. I’m left-leaning, but I regard the advance of transgender ideology as uniquely regressive. So I am asking you, what would you do if (however shocked you were by it) your preferred leader emerged as someone who supported one thing you could not possibly compromise on?

@WinterTrees she's got my vote!!!

@achillestoes you appear to misunderstand the meaning of progressive. The examples you give are mutually exclusive for a progressive agenda. The irony being that you assume my politics are to the left and give examples of entirely right wing scenarios.

I also think that the ability to see past lobby groups, to discern rational, science led thinking from ideology, and to have the courage to stand up for reality in the face of political expediency, are qualities that are rather important in a prime minister.

@DeadbeatYoda

People can decide for themselves where their red lines are. I’m sure you have some? Think about your politics. I’m assuming from this that you vote ‘left’? Imagine a leader who met all your progressive criteria, but also wanted to curtail the right to abortion, or introduce mandatory church attendance, or euthanise the elderly. Do you understand now?

I don't think politicians are as obsessed with gender politics as the people on this board. Should responsible people not be weighing up who is best for the country, rather than who agrees with them on a single issue? Single issue politics is exactly the reason we are in this shit show in the first place. Have we learned nothing?

Twas ever thus.

I think whoever takes over will not appeal to everyone,

I agree with this when you look at the front bench it leaves an impression of diversity which is a good thing

Maybe it is individualism as in pp or maybe it is Labour being for unions who are heavily white and male - I think they only just had a female leader?

I am starting to wonder if the individualist aspect of conservatism is a boon for minorities, because it's less about what your background is and more about individual traits/skills/abilities/will.

Labour/leftism built far more on collective idealism, on a moralist framework, on hierarchy of moral goodness - paternalistic, with a male always needed at the helm. I just cannot imagine a female Labour leader. I don't think the party are capable of allowing it, I don't think all the 'firebrand' males would allow a female leader or listen to a female. It's more a narrative, a story. And that requires a hero, apparently a manly male hero.

This could be complete bobbins, it's just some thoughts I've been exploring. I'd be happy to hear how I'm wrong!

If anyone is so inclined, it would be interesting to see if Labour became more or less diverse since Corbyn came in, and since his departure.

Never getting away from white male leaders ever doesn't look good as a headline, but maybe the reality is more complex. It certainly feels as though the Tories are doing a better job - perhaps that's just due to more visibility as the government, as opposed to the opposition, or maybe it's due to Labour having the greater numbers overall on the backbenches, but not in cabinet / shadow cabinet / leadership positions?

Hopefully, there will be a televised debate between candidates, and where they stand on WR and TR might well come up as a question.
It was interesting that when Mike Freer resigned from the government yesterday, he didn't cite the usual reasons of leadership and ethics and so on that are the reasons why everyone else resigned from the government, but instead made it all about LGBT+ ( www.hamhigh.co.uk/news/mike-freer-resigns-9125774 ), saying that he was resigning in protest at the government's hostility to LGBT+ people.
I don't think Mike Freer will stand for the leadership, fortunately.

Yes, it's interesting isn't it? So many top Tories are BAME.
It is true that the Tories have had the first and second female prime ministers and they've had a good record at ethnic diversity in the Cabinet in recent years.
But OTOH I don't think the following is true -

Maybe it's the difference between actually being inclusive and simply identifying as such

52% of Labour MPs are women, compared with 25% of Tory MPs. And 63% of ethnic minority MPs are Labour.
Labour in government also had the first female Foreign Secretary and first female Home Secretary, first female Cabinet minister, first black Cabinet minister, and first openly gay Cabinet minister.

I can’t agree Javid has been good for health. That may not be because of him personally but the brief he’s been handed down but many of us in the NHS haven’t been impressed.

I’m hoping the party as a whole have seen what a shitshow Labour and Lib Dems have made with ‘What is a woman?’ that they won’t vote for a new leader who either can’t give an answer or says ‘a person who identifies as a woman.’
Surely that would be shooting themselves in the foot?

according to sky news, Ben Wallace is the favourite by far

I heard that cheese thing echoed on here I never really understood the issue with what she did

Although I don’t think she’s a great communicator interviews, just in terms of knowing the brief but that might just be her style

Truss destroyed her own reputation when she was in charge of post Brexit trade deals. She went around telling everyone how great they were.

Consider the Australian deal . She told her staff the Aussie negotiator was a bit green and should be easy meat basically.

Her brilliant stratagem was to make him sit in an uncomfortable chair. Turned out he had struck a previous deal with the Bush government. The Aussies got all they wanted. Britain got stuffed. Next!

If ‘got too excited about cheese’ is the worst they’ve got to say about Truss then it truly is just misogynistic balls isn’t it?

Have I Got News For You damaged Truss’s image some time ago when they kept playing the excerpt from a speech where she was talking about cheese and sounding excited. It wasn’t just one week, they played it and made fun of her quite a few times.