To find Andy Burnham’s sudden rise to the top odd?

[GarlicBiscuits]

A few weeks ago, I’d never heard of this man. A few weeks ago, he wasn’t even an MP.

Yet suddenly, he’s everywhere and going to be our next prime minister? What qualifies him for this role? It seems that all the Labour MPs love him. Why?

The whole situation is very odd to me… I’m not sure it’ll do Labour any favors at all.

Can't argue with that either.

I have mixed feelings on Starmer. From the manifesto he has done a lot. The media wanted his downfall and his lack of charisma aided that. However he has also done some really shit stuff and I don’t like him and never voted for him and probably never would. I agree that Starmer was threatened by Burnham.

As I said on another head though, so I like Burnham? No. Do I want him? No. Am I praying that he is amazing and I eat my own words and prevents Farage, who is utterly fucking useless from getting the PM position and squeezing this country for every single penny he can get? Absolutely-fucking-lutely. I hope I am wrong and he is amazing because the alternative is too scary.

Really? He's lost two previous bids to be leader of the Labour party... not sure what's changed now suddenly that he's got a free pass to be the Prime Minister after only being an MP for a day or two. No opposition. It seems very strange.

Sudden? Maybe if you looked outside your front door occasionally…

Whoops soz

Not strange at all. Sunak lost a leadership election but won a second time with no opposition.

It’s all about timing.

Can you name a prime minister who did?

I think you will find the families of Hillsborough victims would question your view about his only redeeming feature
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2012/sep/16/hillsborough-andy-burnham

i am pretty certain this was a huge achievement

Yeah but why not just do a quick Google before announcing to the world you're ill informed?

Thats hardly revision

On the BBC yesterday there was some speculation that David Miliband could come back from the US, be elevated to the Lords and become Foreign Secretary. I'd be in favour of this if it meant that Ed Miliband won't become Chancellor.

Winston Churchill
Clement Attlee

To be fair I should have said "had a go at" "been keen on the idea" "others have suggested" rather than "tipped" but hes certainly not suddenly appeared as a prospect from nowhere. Not that Im a fan tbh.
I have felt politically homeless now since about 2018. No plans to vote Labour again until they understand what a woman is and is not.

Also, although the impact was not positive overall from my point of view, Mrs Thatcher had a huge impact and will be remembered for quite some time to come.

Whilst I may have my reservations about how the current govenment have acted to basically oust KS and position AB to be prime minister (it is not usual within labour, the Tories are very well known for this type of behaviour), I do understand their thinking.

I actually have a lot of respect for Keir Starmer and consider he inherited a completely broken country. He was expected to fix this overnight without a raise in taxes, upsetting business who have made huge profits under the last government- many delivering outsourced public services. He had to deal with the populist rhetoric that all of our problems are down to immigration rather than the previous government's austerity progranme etc. and the legacy of the shit show that was Brexit and the huge devision populist politicians have created within the UK.

I am hopeful in that Andy Burnham has pubically recognised the above, and also that regions outside of London need autonomy to make decisions. I live in Leeds, which is a thriving city, the biggest centre for law and finance outside of London. There is also a huge student population due to 3 universities and internationally acclaimed dance and music schools.

The previous government cut central funding to my local authority by 10s of millions every year. At the same time, many statutory services needed by our most vulnerable were outsourced to private companies who make huge profits. I consider this a national scandal- a placement for a vulnerable teenager often costs the LA and the tax payer £10 000 a month and can easily be a lot more. Just one example of how public funds have been mismanaged for years, making money out of our most vulnerable.

True, I agree with that, he did work hard to get justice there. I had forgotten about that, my bad.

Margaret Thatcher was a chemist
Tony Blair was a Barrister
John Major was a banker
Rishi Sunak was a banker

I voted for a Labour Party led by Starmer. I didn't vote for a Labour Party led by someone from up North that I hadn't heard of at the GE.

I voted to get rid of the Tories, I don’t give a fuck who the PM is. I’ll be voting to keep Reform out next time I go to the polls in a GE, if Burnham is the best bet I’ll be happy.

Sad, It's now about choosing the least worst option.

you vote for a party, not a leader
wtf is being from ‘up north’ got to do with anything

@GoneWithTHeWindJammers I disagree There remain several people who take an interest in politics and social policy and are disillusioned at the moment. Not because of the current government or even the previous one, but because of the absolute carnage caused by Brexit and the populist politics based on hate and devision.

What an odd comment, most prime ministers have had jobs before politics! The last who didn't was Cameron, everyone else since Thatcher had careers before politics. Not sure who before Cameron. I believe Callaghan only ever worked in the public sphere, so maybe him, if that counts? It does seem more common with Labour, very very few of their current MPs have worked in the private sector.

Someone on the right says mumsnet is too left wing...
And the left say the opposite
Hilarious

@bittertwisted, 'up north' is a significant part, if not the majority of the electorate who have been ignored and bloody had to put up with London centric policies for decades. Many cities and towns up here are now thriving and rebuilding despite the absolute devastation caused by the Thatcher government that destroyed entire communities. Also, many tend to forget, the industrial revolution, subsequent wealth and prosperity that certain people still think makes the UK great, all happened up here in the north. We also have amazing, diverse and multi-cultral cities because following WW2 the UK asked people to move here from the British Empire to support industry.

No it isn’t. It’s choosing the best option to defeat the one you want the least. As a lifelong Labour voter I want to vote for an election winner.