Burnham unopposed & likely to be PM by mid July

[Twiglets1]

Wes Streeting confirms on social media that he won’t stand as a candidate for the Labour leadership. He says that a contest where candidates spent the summer “exaggerating small differences” would not be good for the party or the country, and having spoken to Burnham, he is confident that that there is “a place” for the policies he has been advocating under a Burnham premiership.

The Guardian say this means it is now very, very likely that Burnham will be PM be mid July. It is conceivable that another candidate may come forward. But, apart from Streeting, no one else has publicly signalled an intention to stand, and with Burnham now a shoo-in, it is hard to imagine any other MP getting the support they would need to be a candidate.

heguardian.com/politics/live/2026/jun/22/keir-starmer-resignation-timeable-andy-burnham-labour-leadership-prime-minister-latest-news-updates?page=with%3Ablock-6a390a538f08adffab1e97fd#block-6a390a538f08adffab1e97fd

Out of the frying pan .... springs to mind, but fine if that's what you think is best for the country.

Unlike Thatcher, I believe there IS such thing as society, and it IS made up of individuals who determine what kind of society it is through their actions, every day. So get out there and make the kind of society you want.

I wasn't happy to see Starmer resign - I just wanted him to be better. And despite what some PPs have said, I think Labour as achieved quite a lot in the past 2 years but they haven't communicated it in a way that people can understand, can remember and can get behind. And then they made some massive gaffs..

Andy Burnham has at least set out what his priorities are at the outset. We can understand what fires him up. We all NEED him to work because we all need this country to be better.

Agree with everything you say.

Rather simplistic to say get out and make the kind of society you want. How much influence does one person have on everyone else? Very little, I'd suggest.

And Labour's failings are really not about the comms. Again, simplistic (particularly when compared to the employment issues created by them; no comms could offset that issue).

We're all entitled to our own opinions - sorry not sorry if you find them simplistic.

No it wasn’t comms. They did a huge amount of that with Starmer. It just didn’t work.

If they were so terrible surely the Tories would want them for a complete term? The worse the government the better for the opposition.

I haven't seen an entirely rational explanation for why Starmer should not carry on. I have seen, on MN and other sources, why people think Reeves should move on.

The only thing where I have seen excellent comments from Starmer, Reeves, Badenoch, Davey and (I hate to include) Lowe is the unity on the pantomime clown in Clacton.

That presupposes that the country is united, as one.

It’s patently not.

In real life I haven't spoken to a single person who is sad to see Starmer go. Those to the left seem to be delighted not to have to defend his u-turning, those to the right seem to hope it is the first step to a new government. May Victoria Starmer is sad but even then I'm not certain.

I didn’t dislike Starmer. He is the kind of man who who make a good father or a good boss, non offensive really, more of a safe pair of hands. Reeves and Phillipson, on the other hand, I truly dislike. And it is definitely not because they are women as I like Mahmood, Yvette Cooper, Jess Phillips. It is literally those two women who I utterly dislike so I really hope they are out. They were like Starmer’s worst sidekicks.

Angela Rayner I have mixed feelings about. Don’t mind her in the cabinet but really do not think she should ever be deputy again or PM. There is a line, she is not educated enough although otherwise accomplished in some ways.

I think we need to let go of this notion that the PM is the only really relevant person. The immediate team is just as important especially Chancellor, Home Secretary, Foreign Secretary, Health and Education etc. It would be better for them all to shine and be collaborative and not backstab each other but work really well as a team and have a number of strong personalities who are able to lead.

Quite so.

And yet, we may soon discover that Burnham is even worse, as soon as his blokey northern schtick has worn off.

Will the real Andy Burnham, please stand up, please stand up….

Agree re Reeves and Philipson.

What bemuses me about Starmer is when some people insist he was a ‘decent’ bloke.

How do they conclude that?

Agree - we might not be united for long. But lets enjoy a bit of national collective celebration whilst we can. It's not going down in history but a couple of weeks of fun.

Decent people don't throw everyone around them under buses to save themselves.

Yep. Especially his Mandelson reaction.

I don’t really like attention seekers so I found Starmer non offensive, and not the kind of person who would make everything about himself - but would let others shine in theory. Hence why I said I think he would be a good boss or dad figure.
However, I agree that he threw the civil service guy under the bus unnecessarily and unfairly (in my opinion). He also picked a terrible team in Reeves and Phillipson. Talk about the tail wagging the dog with those two in particular.

If Burnham has any sense he will let the other strong characters shine that are doing a good job because he is essentially an impostor anyway. And neither Tories nor Reform have enough of a strong team so where Labour wins is the competency within the wider party if they only work together and let each other lead and shine, rather than backstab.

But as this is MN after all … you know the kind of guy who cheats on his wife but is your dream guy in theory and you run off with him. That is kind of doomed to fail typically and that is Burnham’s starting point. And that guy usually ends up cheating all over again.

I will always see Starmer as the accidental PM.

He never had a vision or a strategy. He simply lurched from u-turn to a mini-crisis, whilst displaying nothing but weakness and prevarication except when it came to locking up those white folk who either took to X or the streets.

You mean racist rioting thugs.

They deserved locking up.

Even if they riot, if they are releasing violent abusive paedophiles early and other severely violent criminals to make way for activists (whether left or right so British Palestine action and Tommy Robinson types), it’s wrong. Fine and tag the British activists and be done with it. And send the foreign severe criminals back to their home countries.

After Brexit and Covid and malicious Russian bots and division, there are confused people around pushing the boat out on activism and crossing the line. But essentially in many cases they have some mental health issues or are radicalised online and weren’t proper criminals. I don’t feel comfortable locking these people up and releasing the proper violent criminals who will always be a severe danger to the public.
As regards foreign criminals, plenty have trauma but there is simply no way of verifying their true stories objectivelyand when it’s via interpreters in the Old Bailey, it’s even more murky. So they have to be sent back to their Home Countries if they pose a danger to society.

Topically.

Let’s hope the same applies here, agreed?

Riot police were deployed to central London on Thursday night after an officer was taken to hospital following clashes with Morocco fans.

After France beat Morocco 2-0 in the quarter-finals of the World Cup, crowds flowed on to Edgware Road, where some people set off fireworks and pelted officers with debris.

An officer was injured after being hit over the head with a glass bottle, police said.

In a statement, the Metropolitan Police said officers were called to the street in north west London after a group of people congregated in the road and blocked traffic.

A police spokesman said: “The incident then escalated with the group throwing bottles and setting off fireworks. As a result, further officers were deployed to the area.

“One officer was taken to hospital for head injuries; it is believed he had been hit by a glass bottle. No other injuries were reported.
“Officers remained in the area and made four arrests for violent disorder, with the group dispersing and the road re-opened from around 1am.”