Would you vote for Angela Rayner?

[WildEnergySupplier]

Sounds like she's throwing her hat in the ring.

She says she's paid off the tax she owes and is no longer under investigation.

This apparently means she's free to run - and is going to.

In this climate we would actually need a super intelligent economically and scientific super mind as leader

Who do you have in mind?

Well @CurlewKate - I am fed up with their antics, at this point it’s as bad as the Tories!

And no I am not a Reform supporter!!!!!

I don’t think you are a reform supporter based on what I’ve seen you post before. But seriously? A supporter of educated and rational debate like you? Lie-Bore?

Lies and Bores galore. It’s certainly no more offensive than “Torie scum”.
So if they can use that why can’t we? Especially when there are lies and there are bores.

Their job is to lead positively by example. If they can’t, why should any of us be held to a better standard?

I do actually believe, as you say, that “she has been brought back not to stand for PM in any realistic way”. Her status, I believe, comes from Labour Party symbolism - the party of the working class, or is it “working people” these days?

I have never felt she really stood a chance of becoming PM, and I don’t think she believes she will be PM either. A lot of it is spin, media frenzy, and us on social media debating hypotheticals.

I find your “carefully crafted Cinderella/rise from the ashes fictional character” depiction interesting, and I don’t think it has done her any favours. It is probably time for her to lay that personal story to rest. We all know it now.

We certainly need leaders and representatives who understand technology, geopolitics, and the profound changes taking place around us.

We also need leaders who can implement reform, create growth, and put in place credible investment plans and incentives.

For too long, our economy has been in decline. Keir Starmer’s government came into power offering stability. What they seem to mean is the management of decline - hold the boat steady, manage expectations, and hope for eventual growth.

I don’t think many people, when they marked their Xs on election day in 2024, believed they were voting for decline to be managed.

So what, in practical terms, will actually be achieved by the stability that I hear Labour supporters calling for?

“In this climate we would actually need a super intelligent economically and scientific super mind as leader
Who do you have in mind?”

@TopPocketFind - in real life, I know several people about my age who could do a fantastic job and far better than any of the politicians we have. None of them have however chosen to go into politics. The talent is seriously lacking in politics and has been for some time.

There should be a better system so that actual talent can be catapulted in. Career politicians are out of their depth.

Also remember that a lot of people in real life who are successful actually do have a social media presence and are known anyway. I think things need to change.

I have friends who have won Emmys already, launched rockets (the cutting edge ones landing right now) and won awards etc - many of them far more capable and talented than any politician in right now.
I said I am 46 like Rayner and I had friends who were in the same college at Oxford as Rachel Reeves. None of the very brightest nor most capable people went into politics.

Is tthat a long way of saying 'I don't know'?

Maybe ask one of your talented friends to enter politics

Exactly.

I also know of so many outstandingly bright people, some leaders of huge enterprises - not one of them is interested in politics. They meet politicians to try to minimise damages caused. It's almost like if you can't successeed in business or science you go to politics.

Comprehension not your strong point then.

Ha ha - Quite. Sad but true. It's a shame. Imagine if some of the best people in business, social care / policy. engineering etc went into politics. We can dream.

And yes to PP who said

'Who says Angela Rayner is representative of „working class“ values? A lot of working class actual real life people find that insulting.
Labour have simply curated a carefully crafted Cinderella/rise from the ashes fictional character. The reality is much more party girl/bull in a China shop/some luck and some hard work involved'

Spot on.

It is actually. Write what you mean if you expect your words to be taken as representing your opinion.

I find it quite astonishing that two posters on this thread move in such illustrious circles. Clearly some of the best people in the country have rather more lacklustre friends. When you resort to idiocy like Liebore and don’t know the meaning of curate, please don’t expect to be taken seriously.

It’s a shame about this thread, it was an interesting debate up to the last couple of pages.

'When you resort to idiocy like Liebore and don’t know the meaning of curate, please don’t expect to be taken seriously'

What?

I explained why I resorted to “Liebore” - it is in the context of making a point about Angela Rayner using “Tory scum” and not leading by example herself.

And now suddenly you all are so offended?

Do you @blossomtoes believe the deputy leader of the Labour Party needs to lead by example or not?

I am just using street language from my working class roots traced back to my Irish great grandmother, thank you very much.

I’m not offended, I think it’s puerile and I’m surprised that you’d stoop to that level. I thought you were better than that.

I don’t think it was Rayner’s finest hour any more than I think it was Bevan’s when he referred to the Tories as vermin. Of course Edward Heath took a dim view of his colleagues when he announced “There are three sorts of people in this party: shits, bloody shits and fucking shits.”

Political insults are a long established tradition. You might enjoy some of these.

theideaslab.substack.com/p/a-collection-of-political-insults

So is Rayner.

We want a prime minister who is good at politics. And people in and around government who are good at other stuff. The problem with Starmer is that he is well educated and academically clever- he isn’t good at politics.

@Blossomtoes what are you talking about?

What is a valid and reliable measure of whom is 'good at politics' - (in advance of the job not in hindsight)?

What does it mean to be “good at politics”? Backstabbing, political games, wasting time 90% of the time, choosing a select voter base only, cowering to your members, having puerile debates on national TV, staging catfights with your opponents? (Which is what, meant to be funny, in jest?) Yet when anyone else does it, then it is offensive?

The whole point is the political system in the UK is rotten. The traditions are immature and outdated. The examples being set are sometimes truly awful for the rest of the population.
That is why people of the highest quality do not bother entering the bullring in the first place.

Who said “they” can use language like “Tory scum”? I certainly don t think so.

Comprehension not your strong point?

Explain yourself Blossom. I have no idea to what you refer. I've never used the term 'Liebour' and I certainly do understand the meaning of the word 'curate'.

RTFT and all will be revealed - hopefully.