Burnham has been blocked!

[Ohcrap082024]

Just being reported on BBC news now. The NEC has met and refused to allow Andy Burnham to stand in the by-election. This is looking very bad for Starmer.

I agree. This is a distraction . They need to do their jobs no in fight.

This is a bad move by Starmer. It’s going to be interesting to see what unfolds.

What a stupid move by Starmer. Regardless of the merits or otherwise of Andy Burnham this just makes him look both weak and didactic

I always thought that as mayor he couldn’t stand ?

There are May elections in my area. Those that have been postponed are because councils have applied for that due to impending boundary changes.

Good. Not the right time for AB to be on manoeuvres. He’s a great mayor for GM and needs to be committed to the job he has, not eyeing up being Labour leader. Starmer has been great the last few months with Trump. But tired of all the negativity to be honest. Didn’t we have enough leadership shenanigans with the last lot?

We could do away with the mayoral role and save a fortune.

Yep agree more or less. I think things are slowly improving after many chaotic years under the tories.

Typical Labour head in the sand behaviour...

Fingers in ears, chanting "everyone loves us", "the may elections are in the bag", "Nigel who..."

Andy Burnham is probably their best hope of staving off Reform at the next GE.

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

I blame the unions 100%. They are meant to work for their members not run the country for their own benefit. They saddled us with the wrong Milliband and it has been downhill ever since. And the misogyny is dreadful.

He can't but if he'd got backing today would have had to stand down as Mayor.

Rumours are that he wants to have Rayner as his deputy if he does get to number 10 via the route he wants to take. This alone should make him absolutely a no go for PM. She was found to be corrupt and trying to cheat the system whilst Starmer’s deputy. And he thinks it a good idea to get her back into a post she was previously sacked from?! Unbelievable….

Agree. But for slightly different reasons. Andy Burnham was wrong to put himself forward as he should not be abandoning Manchester half way through his term. It’s bad for numerous reasons.

But as you say it now looks worse that he’s been blocked. If anything this will serve Andy Burnham well in the long run, as he can finish his term as Major and look around for an opportunity when that’s finished.

Also agree about not being allowed to change Prime Ministers without an election. Also think there should be by-elections when MP defect other parties.

Keir Starmer is doomed as leader with or without Andy Burnham as an MP. Wes Streeting will be happy today.

Wouldn’t surprise me if he’s just letting her think that so he can benefit from her support.

Just had a long convo with my very politically aware 17 who is revising for his Politics A Level mock exam. He is furious. He is driven by a very strong sense of fairness and is furious that, as he sees it, Starmer and his allies have used their powers to block democracy.

His key point is that the vast majority of people who vote in General Elections are not discussing this in depth. They will listen to the soundbites around Burnham’s popularity and see it that Starmer is running scared. That Starmer has gifted all his opponents with a huge stick to beat him with.

My son argues that the NEC should have let Burnham stand and Starmer should face him head on. That the Burnham question isn’t going away. That the Labour vote among the under 25s in the next GE will be non existent.

It does look ridiculous and untrue that they claimed it was a financial decision and would get in the way of the elections.

@Ohcrap082024 Does he think the Under25s will support the Greens in huge numbers? That’s one of my fears.

This!!

Wes Streeting is incredibly ambitious and I would fear for our NHS if he was to become Labour Party leader given all the funding he’s received from private healthcare providers…

Starmer is a tin pot dictator. He blocks local elections because he knows Labour candidates will have huge losses. He blocks AB because he knows he is popular among Labour MP's and if it came down to a leadership vote Starmer would lose. It should be illegal for him to do all this blocking.

'The Labour vote for Labour in the under 25s in the next GE will be non existent'

Who does your 17 year old son think his cohort will vote for, @Ohcrap082024 bearing in mind that most of them won't have studied politics like he has?

I agree with your DS. Blocking democracy is wrong but Starmer is a blocker as he is a coward who is terrified of losing.

What funding has Streeting received from private healthcare providers?

https://privatisation.everydoctor.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/MPs-Interests-Report-Formatv1.4.pdf

Plenty of information out there on the internet. It’s well known regarding Streeting.