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.

I haven't got time. Please tell me what you were talking about - since you've accused me of something I am in the dark about.

No

Yes, definitely.

Never thought of it like that, but it resonates. Not dissimilar to a certain grocer’s daughter from Grantham being used as a poster girl for gender equality and meritocracy in the Conservative Party, while it actually remained “business as usual” for the Eton-ites and the rest of the old boys’ network. A fig leaf.

I say that as a lifelong Tory voter who would rather be flogged than see Ange as PM. I find her revolting. But it’s crickets for actual talent on either front bench tbh.

I haven’t got time.

Ah ok. In that case I shall put you out of your misery.

In a pp directed at me at 15:43, you said 'When you resort to idiocy like Liebore and don’t know the meaning of curate, please don’t expect to be taken seriously.'

I then asked you what you were talking about, since I've not used the term Liebore and I do understand the meaning of curate. You of course had attributed those things to me, when it wasn't in fact me at all. I asked you to clear it up (I paraphrase). You realising you'd fcked up, continued to obfuscate and not clarify your mistake (especially as it would have solidified my questioning your comprehension skills in a pp), instead digging your little hole deeper. Bit Like Starmer and Labour - except they have a much bigger hole to never get out of..

There you go, I've done it for you.

I have elaborated throughout this thread, from both a moral and capability perspective, on why I do not believe Angela Rayner is fit for the office she currently holds, nor to become “primus inter pares”

In return, much of what you have offered amounts to little more than pile-ons, diversionary tactics, bad-faith engagement and an almost cult-like devotion to the Cinderella story.

I just don't believe that simply rising from a difficult background is adequate evidence that someone would make a good future leader. Background, accent and personal history are not what determine competence. Substance, vision unclouded by ideology, judgement, intellect, long-term thinking and character do.

The country needs leaders who are capable of putting the interests of the country as a whole first, rather than viewing every issue primarily through the lens of left-versus-right ideology.

@blossomtoes - with regards to “curate”, allow a girl some poetic licence! I was being deliberately “alliterative”. Both you and @CurlewKate like to decompose/dissect/deconstruct the minor when you have nothing more substantive to add. It is rather tedious. And so is the faux outrage/being offended - a national sport for @CurlewKate?

And yes of course, if you are a professional with a job in London who went to Cambridge and boarding school for a couple of years (my father was a diplomat, it was necessity at the time, my mother insisted on grammar school before that) - then of course, you are going to meet a fair few this and that’s who are now famous and very rich or so and so’s wife/husband/son etc. However, more than that I do actually meet exceptional people fairly regularly. That is not me moving in “illustrious” circles, it is friends from uni, friends of friends, part professional etc, partly to do with volunteering/charity work too. I suspect the same is the case for @nearlylovemyusername
And believe it or not, I do still regularly go out as well! And sometimes I am introduced to really well known people and only realise afterwards.
Rest assured though, I am clearly a nobody myself or else I would not be wasting so much time on MN!

The system produces low calibre politicians because there is no requirement for expertise
or competence.

Instead, as we see quite clearly in the current government, politicians are rewarded for party loyalty and their ability to read the script.

It is also not a particularly attractive job. The pay is modest compared with other professional careers.

So we churn out career politicians. The route is set out - a PPE degree, a think tank, a stint as a SPAD, and then loyalty is rewarded with a safe seat and then on to becoming a minister.

Politicians say they want to make a difference, but the reality is that making a difference requires much more than moral language and emotive posturing. Ending poverty, achieving equality, and introducing breakfast clubs may be worthy ambitions, but they are not governing or economic strategy.

We need leaders who understand growth, investment, technology, productivity, energy and geopolitics.

Instead, our political class come from a low talent pool of ambitious people who are adept at navigating party lines.

The way this thread is going, I will now support Angela Rayner for PM

@Araminta1003Interesting. We appear to share very similar backgrounds. Your use of Lie-Bore is even more baffling.

@CurlewKate - what is baffling is that you keep repeating the term. Like you subconsciously want it to imprint on anyone reading this thread. If you disagree with it, why would you keep bringing it up?
Is it naughty and exciting to you? Perhaps you subconsciously agree with it otherwise why are you repeating it ad infinitum?

Because remember, I am just a stranger on the internet and you repeating the term is actual internet history. You are making the term live by repeating it.

But of course!

@Araminta1003 puts policy before politics, which is indicative of somebody with critical thinking skills rather than somebody who is a slave to ideology. That may be why they are able to see “Lie-Bore” for the snake oil salesmen they are and you are not.

My critical thinking skills lead me to a different conclusion. It’s pure arrogance to assert yours are superior.

I am objecting to her use of tedious, glib, lazy terminology, not her political beliefs.

Strange thread, only way they will parachute Ange in is if Reform beat AB, could happen actually, will be funny if it does, they might try desperately to position her as "one of you!" and get their traditional votes back, won"t happen of course, people are voting for Reform in large numbers because they want an end to the Red team Blue team shite.

So you struggle to see the bigger picture. There is no shame in that, but it does explain a lot.

Reform is just a different shade of shite.

They talk about all the right subjects though, remember, everyone shits.

What bigger picture?

What do you mean by this?

I rest my case. The arrogance is breathtaking.

aka You have nothing. So business as usual,