To think you can tell if someone is a Statesman/woman by how they conduct themselves when they lose (or nearly lose)

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Some stark contrasts in how various politicians have conducted themselves when they lose.

George Galloway not even there. Liz Truss no reaction.

Jeremy Hunt almost loses but does so describing Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves as “decent people” and sending his best wishes.

Penny Mourdant takes it on the chin and does a nice speech.

I just think you can tell a lot about how people react.

Completely agree, OP.

Penny Mordaunt and Jeremy Hunt both gave really gracious speeches.

Liz Truss was godawful. I didn't think I had any respect for her left to lose but I was wrong.

The reality is though, and many people seem surprised by this, that behind closed doors politicians of all parties are actually good friends. They have their political differences, but socially get on well. Many of them work together on APPG's and like and respect one another.

I appreciated the reversal in tone re Rishi Sunak being Asian as I found the previous rhetoric quite upsetting

Nice that he said something positive about Starmer on resigning

I agree OP. Whatever you think about the individuals and how they performed in office I think how they handle defeat tells you a lot about them. I'm not fans of either Truss or Mordant but there was a stark contrast in how they behaved after they lost.

I actually found a grudging respect for Penny Mordant being so dignified and gracious when she delivered her speech. I suspect Truss was upset and trying to retain her composure, which suggests she might be too thin skinned for politics, but her remarks since reveal that she is also quite deluded and arrogant.

I hadn't seen the Neil Evans clip but he seems very sincere in that short speech.

I'm surprised and slightly concerned that people think it's remarkable the transfer was peaceful. I don't recall it ever being any other way. Some people are more gracious than others but I don't recall any violence. What happened to Jess Phillips was appalling but it is not the norm.

His TV interview where he mixed up who had asked him a question and started having a go at George Osborne (Ed Balls was the one who actually asked) was hilarious.
Baker showed himself to be a nasty petty churlish Dick while Osborne just sat looking bemused

Fully agree. It gives me a new respect for some of them. Not enough to vote Tory ever because they just don’t align with what is important to me, but sort of “JH isn’t a total fuckwit after all”.

Apparently Truss had a tantrum to begin with and refused to go on stage for the results so those were held up while her people tried to cajole her. And even when she was there she looked like a mannequin who’d done a line of ket. Not at all surprised by her shitty attitude. Or Galloway’s. He’s an odious prick too.

I don't think we're surprised the transfer of power & behaviour at most of the counts was peaceful - more relieved that it STILL is. This is compared to other comparable democracies like the US and compared to the nastiness of some of our recent politics, especially Brexit but also the Johnson/Farage/Anderson brand of populism & the frightening behaviour of some people in protests such as anti-Israel protests.

Absolutely this. Politics in recent years has become very ugly, here and in America. It’s a relief when it all goes peacefully rather than expected these days. What happened to Jess Phillips was shocking and disgusting, and I would think that even if I didn’t rate her as a politician. I hate Braverman (as a random example) and everything she stands for but I wouldn’t want her to be harassed like that either.

I honestly wouldn’t want to try and predict the USA result in November but look what happened last time Trump lost. People literally died because of his tantrums.