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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU to think the Labour Party has more chance of success with Starmer?

81 replies

Mistlewoeandwhine · 21/02/2020 13:12

I’m not a KS bot. I loved and voted for Corbyn but sadly I realise that this is not what the British people want. I’m thinking that Starmer (who for me would be a compromise politically) would give Labour a chance of a more widespread appeal.

I’m in the LP so will be voting on this issue. Most of my friends are Corbyn fans and are disappointed with me for not sticking to the true socialist path ( which really I do want). But at the end of the day, if most British people rejected Corbyn and what he offered then we’d be mad to just offer it again.

Anyway, AIBU to compromise on my beliefs and pick Starmer as a leader of the Labour Party?

OP posts:
kitk · 21/02/2020 13:12

I feel exactly the same

Nowayorhighway · 21/02/2020 13:14

We’re voting for him because he’s the only one who accepts a woman cannot have a penis.

Bracknellite · 21/02/2020 13:15

It depends, do we compromise a lot of what we believe in the hope of forming a government and doing SOME good, or stick to the true path and risk remaining in opposition.

Sorry I don’t have the answer, it’s a question I’m currently wrestling with.

YouTheCat · 21/02/2020 13:16

I'm also a member and think Corbyn is an excellent politician. I'll be voting for Starmer though. I went to see him last week and he talks a lot of sense.

I think you're right to compromise. This is supposed to be about what is right for everyone, not just those of us on the left. I have considered all the other candidates and I wouldn't trust a few of them as far as I can throw them. There's a lot of very dodgy Momentum interfering going on.

c3pu · 21/02/2020 13:16

Politics is full of compromises and half measures.

It will be a balancing act of picking the person you disagree with the least who has the best chance of being elected.

As you point out, there's little sense in choosing somebody who has policies you fully embrace, if there is no chance of them being able to implement them.

killingalltheplants · 21/02/2020 13:19

This is supposed to be about what is right for everyone, not just those of us on the left

The whole of the Labour party is on the left. People thinking it isn't, and only corbynites are true "left" is what lead, among many other things, to the disaster that is Boris Johnson.

In answer to your question, yes I do and I would vote for him. I did vote Labour in the last GE, but with gritted teeth. If KS were leader, I'd have voted for him with enthusiasm.

killingalltheplants · 21/02/2020 13:19

It depends, do we compromise a lot of what we believe in the hope of forming a government and doing SOME good, or stick to the true path and risk remaining in opposition.

Sorry, what is the "true path"?

SaskiaRembrandt · 21/02/2020 13:22

I'll be voting for him for the same reasons. I want to see a Labour government, and no matter how principled, Corbyn and his cohort cannot bring that about.

Original poster
Mistlewoeandwhine · 21/02/2020 13:23

I guess the “true path” is the centre-socialist vision that a lot of us Corbyn voters shared. I don’t think Starmer has that vision but then again, if his way is more palatable to the British public and still leads to a more fair and equal society than the one we currently have, then I am willing to go along with it.

OP posts:
DippyAvocado · 21/02/2020 13:23

I'm a member, supported Corbyn when he was first elected but was throughly disappointed by him and let my membership lapse. I didn't vote Labour in the last two elections. I will vote for Starmer as the leader. I like Lisa Nandy but I think Starmer is more electable and I respect him as a politician. I also think he's more considered in what he says publicly, trying not to be divisive which is what Labour needs at the moment.

Original poster
Mistlewoeandwhine · 21/02/2020 13:25

Yes, the big focus should be on bringing cohesion to the party. Not creating further division, back-stabbing etc

OP posts:
JudyCoolibar · 21/02/2020 13:33

YANBU. We need the person best able to show Johnson up for the sham, corrupt piece of dirt that he is, and I think that person is Starmer.

GinDaddy · 21/02/2020 13:33

I disagree with Lisa Nandy's views on trans, but I still strongly think she would be the breath of fresh air Labour needs. She is someone who seems prepared to think more radically about what Labour should actually be offering people in the 21st century.

Starmer is the "line of best fit" - he is the person you could put up against any PM and you'd know he'd do a decent job, could hold the fort at the dispatch box, get a message out, he's not too weird like Ed M or Corbyn, he's not too needlessly provocative like Thornberry or Jess Phillips...

..the only issue I do have however is that it's easier to say what he's not, than what he is. He's kind of a blank canvas for people to project their hopes and dreams onto. And a blank canvas will always be beaten by someone as clever in terms of positioning and politics as Johnson and his team, who got the tactics spot on last year.

The Labour Party desperately needs to outline, confidently, what it is for in today's world - and how that mission relates to all of the UK, not just the marginalised which its current leader so passionately represents.

Starmer seems like the chap you'd like to have as finance director or on the board somewhere. Nandy seems like the person you'd perhaps want helming your start-up or disruptor finance team. No prizes for which I'd rather have right now.

caffeinefix · 21/02/2020 13:34

I saw him last month speak and a lot of what he said resonated with me so I think I will vote for him.

If it's true what a PP said about being a female then I'll definitely be voting for him.

Alltheprettyseahorses · 21/02/2020 13:36

Can't bear him. He's just another useless white male and he's pushing a dangerous anti-woman agenda which is also destroying Labour.

SentimentalKiller · 21/02/2020 13:38

Corbyn is a joke. Starmer stands a better chance only if he gets rid of momentum and sorts out the mysogony and anti semitism
Otherwise they remain unelectable. Also need to take party members to task for the abuse they dish out to women on social media

macpumpkin1 · 21/02/2020 13:42

I think Starmer will get in. A lot of people close to me have joined the Labour Party in order to vote for him.

Changingchanging123 · 21/02/2020 13:44

I would describe myself as centre - right. I have voted for all the major parties over the years. If KS is leader of the Labour Party I will probably vote for them. I don’t agree with all his economic positions, but love his ideas on democratic renewal and Bojo is scary for so many reasons. If RLB is elected I won’t even look at the Labour Party and will assume they are not interested in my vote and will vote Lib Dem. I would wait to see what Lisa Nandy had to say in more detail.

Labour supporters you can use that information as you will!

OkMaybeNot · 21/02/2020 13:46

I've thought the same for a couple of years. I like Corbyn, but many, many people don't. It doesn't matter what I bloody think.

My local Labour party will not have it. It's like talking to a brick wall.

AmazingGreats · 21/02/2020 13:51

I hope it's Starmer because, being really cynical here, whilst I would love to see a female labour prime minister some day I would just really like the Labour Party to get in next time more than I care about which gender they are and we as a voting public tend not to vote for left wing women.

There are lots of other reasons too. I did initially like Corbyn but I do not think he was centre enough. We live in a county where the centrists decide the outcome, and the government we have now are very dangerous and heading and further and further to the right.

AlunWynsKnee · 21/02/2020 13:52

I mostly agree with you but I left the party over the women's rights issue last year before the election so I don't have a vote on the leader. It would be far better to have a left leaning centrist government than a weak socialist opposition.

Floribundance · 21/02/2020 13:56

We need an opposition that’s capable of attracting voters from the centre ground. That’s the only check on the Conservatives moving further right.

BrokenBrit · 21/02/2020 14:03

I like KS, and was a JC fan (for the most part) too. I think JC is a decent and principled man, who thrives in helping people, but sadly proved not electable at this time in this country.

I think KS is socialist, but he also has a more mainstream appeal and less ‘baggage’ than JC for the crazed press to pick over. He has a decent history of success in pro bono legal cases, he was a human rights lawyer, he helped the miners, and hopefully can stand up to Johnson on the way he’s riding rough shod over our rights. KS is lovely to meet too, he is unassuming and warm but piercingly intelligent.

I think he would be infinitely better for the country than the deranged lot and their evil advisors we currently have running it.
I hope he wins and creates a robust opposition.

ilovesooty · 21/02/2020 14:04

I joined the Labour Party to vote for Corbyn. I voted Labour in the last two elections as I have done for many years. However the public didn't want Corbyn as leader and I want to see Labour ultimately in government not in virtuous opposition. I also want to see Johnson challenged and the party to become less divisive.

I shall be voting for Keir Starmer who I think is by far the most credible and capable candidate.

Currently I plan to vote for Angela Rayner for deputy. I'd be interested to hear the views of others on the deputy contest.

Floribundance · 21/02/2020 14:08

OP I’d ask your friends how many food bank users their idealism helps. How many elderly people stuck with 15 minute carer visits it helps, a situation that’s only going to get worse with new immigration rules likely to add a staffing shortage to shrinking local government funding.

commonslibrary.parliament.uk/social-policy/welfare-pensions/what-do-the-latest-food-bank-statistics-tell-us/

www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/feb/20/social-care-uk-crumbling-boris-johnson-immigration-plans

Does their self righteousness make up the funding shortfalls in schools that have left teachers having to buy school supplies and essentials for their pupils?

www.theguardian.com/education/2019/apr/19/one-in-five-teachers-using-own-money-for-school-supplies-report

10 years of Conservative governments with no end in sight.