To think Keir Starmer might resign tomorrow (Monday)

[Viviennemary]

I think he might. But who knows. He must know he can't possibly stay until the next General Election. It's very disrespectful to the electorate to not listen.

Media spin - fuck off.

He's not been a great PM - he did get staying out of the Iran war right - but there's little else to point out TBH.

He appointed Mandleson - but that mess was everyone else's fault - now poor election results it's the media or the electorate being thick - eveyone else's fault always.

He could turn it round still be doing something bold he still has time - but I think it will be more of the same from him with increasing attacks from his own party anyway. I worry that could open the door to reform at GE - which I personally think will be an utter disaster.

I'm waiting to see what will happen here in Wales - I reluctantly voted plaid and will wait and see how they get on - and I'll keep an eye other left parties see what they do. If Labour continues to insisting Stamer doing really well - I image many left leaning voters like me will continue to look elsewhere.

The electorate didn’t vote on the leadership of the Labour Party. Getting sick of Labour MPs claiming that we did.

I've spent some time thinking about this but my conclusion is that it is now or never for Streeting.

If he doesn't go for it now then Rayner and Burnham will be more favoured as candidates if a leadership election happens in the longer term.

If he waits, then not only does he compete with them, he risks being put out of the cabinet as a potential future challenger when one of them does come into play.

I think now is his best chance to become PM, if not then it could be a long long road. If Burnham replaces Starmer then he is likely to be in position until the next election, and if Labour fail to win the next election (looking quite likely ATM) it could be almost a decade before he gets another shot at the PM position.

I agree. If Streeting doesn’t move now, he’s had it.

Also a Plaid voter (though not reluctant).
Much of the hate is driven by media spin. Nowhere did I say he’d done everything right. He hasn’t, and I’d like him to be much more radical. But if you can’t see the influence of the media alongside that…

Perhaps not every single politician is jockeying for position in a fight for their own aggrandisement. Perhaps there’s some consideration of other factors.

Perhaps but against this is waiting so the party can have a say. He could go for it without Burnham but he may find half or so of the party feeling mutinous, which would be tough.

Streeting has a tiny majority and his own seat is very vulnerable.

Even better reason for him to go for it then if he is likely to be voted out at the next election.

Maybe. But I doubt it.

... praised Streeting for telling "his story with emotional intelligence. He is never self-aggrandising, yet part of his appeal is his naked ambition; in a 2024 interview he was unequivocal about wanting one day to be prime minister. This is the self-made East End boy speaking.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wes_Streeting

Wanting to be PM, even being ambitious, doesn’t mean he’d automatically go for it if he felt it wasn’t in anyone’s best interest but his own.

The media has a go at every government in power and it's always worse for any Labour government but it's not root cause of their leadership problems.

I worried when they came in they didn't have clear plans and timeframes to do things in - and that's proven to be the case.

The media did not appointment Mandelson - that was his poltical decision he's then tried to blame on everyone else.

He's not doing well as PM - and there are clearly rummblings with his party, with his MPs and with the elecorate which TBH is understanable - but he won't go willingly he's made that very clear.

If he had a solid record of acheievemnet or popularity he wouldn't be vunerable but yet again that's someone else fault not his record so far oh no - but point it out and the same old lines get trotted out - its the media its the electorate being thick - you just don't see who is .

I quite like Wes Streeting when I hear him speak - but I'm not so sure he wants the job TBH.

I can see that if Starmer suddenly thought fuck this I'm off - and he could make shed loads of money when he leaves like all the former PMs do- then people would accuse him of being irresponsible just leaving the country to it at this moment. Yes he's an unpopular PM but people say he's a nice man and I feel sorry for his family.

I feel more for all those he sacked to get past scandals.

He said if his wife wanted to resign he would do so immediately. They are fine, I guarantee you. They are not victims. If his family are suffering as a result of him being so unpopular, then he can put his family before country and resign. He wasn’t born to be PM. Many PMs have come and gone and one day he will be gone. Next!

So you don't think he'd get criticised for resigning, when there's a war in the Middle East? I do.

No, I really don’t think he’d be criticised. He has every reason to go and every reason to say that his party needs new leadership - from which change, he can say, the country would benefit. Everyone would understand why he resigned. They may be sorry, they may be cheering, but all would understand.

As for Iran, we’re not playing any part in it. We have no leverage over Iran or the US. What decisions do need to be taken by the UK can be taken without Starmer. Any PM would be essentially irrelevant in those circumstances.

@paddleboardingmum, of course he would get criticised for resigning. He is being criticised now. It could be said he is between a rock and a hard place.

Wars come and wars go! Brutal, honest truth! Starmer resigning would cause domestic instability for the world to see, they are already looking, but it won’t change the course of the war.

We are already going through a significant period of instability caused by Starmer’s government.

Churchill was elected out of office before the second world war in the east was finished before Japan surrendered.

So a leader change - who'd get replaced by a cabinet member most likely - in a war we're not currently fighting in doesn't seem impossible to me.

The question is more for the labour party - is he doing a good job and is it worth getting a new leader in to see if that brings electorate back to them.

It's really not but they'll say bad things - who gives a fuck - if he stays or goes people will critise that's politics.

It’s not like the last gov wasn’t criticised, not sure why Starmer is some protected politician. He’s not doing well. His own party will likely make a move.

If the PM is not a good PM should he stay in position while people convince themselves and believe establishment spin that great things will come just because the not good PM stays on as PM? Is that how stability works?

Much blame is laid at the feet of the media, total blame at those of the last government (I blame all successive governments). Many believe that compared to Boris Johnson and Lizz Truss, Starmer can do no wrong.

But we have to judge Starmer on his own merits. He just hasn’t shown command in the role. He has lost control of the party, he has lost any respect that a PM should at least initially have.

The country need’s investment and growth. Not this politics of grievance that his government has created. Everything feels so dire. I was a child of the 70s. I hate that decade. These times feel the same.

He won with a big majority, be it on a low turnout. He could have owned this, everything was there. The situation we are at now can only be blamed on Keir Starmer and his government, and I personally believe, neither are not up to the job. Things will not get better.

I respect KS for how he has dealt with the Iran/US war and how he is dealing with disrupters in his own party now. I do not want him to go and it is terrible for the country to have this circus going on. If Labour replace him they will lose support. The coverage is ridiculous.

We can't have a repeat of the Liz Truss lettuce fiasco, with a revolving door of PMs who scarper as soon as the media starts screaming.

I'm not a Labour voter but I am satisfied with Labour and the PM. Good for him.

If he stays they are on course to lose the next general election. The MP's know this so they need to act.