Burnham has won. More turmoil?

[KatiePricesKnickers]

Now Burnham has won, it will trigger a leadership contest, and if he wins, a new chancellor of the exchequer.

Surely this cannot be good for the country, or its finances?

YABU - Burnham is a true leader who will improve the UK for everyone and be a competent and respected leader.

YANBU - FFS, here we go again.

Why did Farage say it was existential then? Turnout was 20% higher than for the local elections.

Perhaps. I'm not sure what you're saying changes the facts though that people who voted for Reform a few weeks ago have just leant Burnham their vote so he can remove KS. This by-election was a vote to remove Keir Starmer. Of course turnout would be high.

Nothing. It was always a terrible policy and it hasn’t worked for Starmer.

Why not? Its the vety definition of it. Judging someone by the colour of their skin and their sex.

Remind us how many votes the Tories got in Makerfield? Or how well they did in the May elections?

Reform has replaced the Tories because there is always a rump of around a third of voters (who bother to turn out) who will vote for the right, often against their own interests. Badenoch has turned an ailing Tory party into a defunct one.

It’s a fix!

Isn't this what we went through with May/Johnson? A PM who lacked charisma and the common touch being elbowed aside for someone with populist appeal, a hugely popular mayor. Personally ambitious and hailed as some kind of messiah who will 'deliver' for the party and the country. Well, six years on, Johnson's party is in ruins and it may end similarly for Labour.

Another upcoming lurch to the Left then? Not good news.

On the other hand, congratulations to the Conservatives for taking Aberdeen South from the SNP - onwards and upwards!

I love Andy Burnham but I agree a leadership contest is not what we need . We need boring , stable and effective leadership. I wish the government could be more loyal to each other and cohesive for the good of the country than what we have seen lately. You know actually work together and I wish there was more cross party working together on big issues too. I do blame the media for a lot of Keirs unpopularity.

I'm relieved too. Although it will inevitably result in a leadership contest at some point, this is "the lesser of two evils", I think.

They won in the other by-election and Kemi is leading in her ratings above the men. Labour are actually losing their leader so they can focus on that for a while.

I know I've been quite circumspect above but what I do think is that it's very unlikely that Starmer will fall on his sword! He has no good reason to, at present. At least that we know of.

For what it's worth, I agree that no politician - of any colour or stripe - is going to be able to fix the issues we have currently. Unfortunately we're in a period of contraction globally. As a race we've overextended ourselves and over consumed our resources and as a species we've been living the relative high life for a few decades. Now it's coming to an end and people are going to be unhappy and struggle as things revert to normal. Short of a major technological advancement happening imminently (like mastering nuclear fusion at scale which means very cheap clean energy for all) then we are all going to have to get used to our quality of life getting worse. There is no politician in the world who can fix that.

Things do need to change, I just don’t think changing one talker for another talker.

Nothing seems to be landing with any party and people creating a frenzy, mis information being used for their own narrative.

Unsettling, and worrying. We don’t have the money to keep paying out, we want to look after the most vulnerable but they right now are at risk. We need to ensure we supporting our young people with opportunities or we will loose them. We need to deal fast with the people arriving at our shores - support where needed and if not ticket back home swiftly.

If the rumours that Andy will install Ed M as Chancellor are true, we’re all screwed!

It’s not “facts”. Turnout was 20% higher. That alone would explain the result. You’ll be telling me there are fairies at the bottom of your garden next.

An interesting comparison, I always thought May was treated shabbily as well.

People who see the "rich" as some kind barrow boy made good, pull yourself up by your own bootstraps class are both well out of date and frankly, lickspittles. The rich now is the rentier class, living it up on passive income from property speculation and the like. As if they don't look down on the salaried, including the ones who think they're better than the minimum wage earners.

I fear Ed Milliband more than the idea of Andy Burnham to be honest. I saw an interview with him and he sounds almost deranged. He is another one with a huge ego and look what he did to his own brother.
Id rather a General election than have him in charge and I can’t imagine that Rachel Reeves will keep her job if we get a new PM.

I know it’s cringe.

It started almost immediately Labour won the election. They were constantly blamed for things they couldn’t possibly be responsible for after 14 years of Tory Government.

And yet people blamed them for poor public services, immigration, failing economy etc etc from day one. It’s like people are unable to exercise any critical thinking whatsoever.

There was a real trend towards tactical voting to keep out Reform. Look at Lib Dems, Greens - maybe even Conservative vote?

So if it’s the banks running everything, why are you then blaming Labour 🤷‍♀️

Starmer is too disliked. Maybe you’ll have more of a chance with Burnham.

Reform still got 42 percent though - no evidence the shine is coming off, AB’s speech was dead on, it’s much more like voters in that region (I work mostly there) are giving labour one last chance to implement some policies most people think are good ideas.

Quote the opposite. Starmer was very clear there would be a difficult 2 year period before any improvement.

I quite like Andy Burnham but I agree the last thing the UK needs right now is more instability. It was good to see Reform get a trouncing though.