Only women standing for Deputy Leader of the Labour Party

[IwantToRetire]

Not sure if it is going to make any difference whoever it is.

Bridget Phillipson
Bell Ribeiro-Addy
Dame Emily Thornberry
Lucy Powell
Paula Barker
Alison McGovern

https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/all-contenders-replace-angela-rayner-labours-deputy-leader-3904804

(There may be a better article, just happened upon this one first.)

I agree, @Barr77 that is exactly how many people see it.

Yes @Barr77 I agree that's how many people do see it. There's a very nihilistic feeling to everything and I've no idea how we change that. How do you bring hope to people when everything seems so utterly hopeless?

Brexit was two fingers to the establishment and that hasnt exactly been a barrel of laughs. The Welsh have gone for "anyone except reform" and there will probably be some of that going on at the next election.

Labour party members, IME, live in a fantasy world or a purist spiral where they'd rather not be in government and including workers lives a bit than compromise. So we got governments who gave us austerity and still massively increased the national debt.

This used to be a site full of knowledgeable people, there must be staps the government can take to better manage the economy.. Not paying interest on bank deposits is an idea they can pinch from reform. They can tax direct imports from China so that the playing field is levied for British businesses. They can abolish higher rate relief on pensions, standard rate only. They can reduce or remove the tax free lump sum on pensions. ISA limits should drop, they benefit the rich more than the poor. Remove the carried interest rules so tax rates are similar to income tax. Increase tax on private jets. New council tax bands for higher priced property. Eliminate the stamp duty loophole for enveloped property - it really annoys me that profit on land sales are often in offshore companies and barely taxed at all.

Brexit was two fingers to the establishment and that hasnt exactly been a barrel of laughs.

A (male) friend voted Leave as a ‘protest’ vote. Didn’t answer when asked what exactly he was protesting against. Voting for Reform will be the same. Only we’ll be even more screwed. However, I personally don’t know who to vote for.

They have had two women as caretaker leaders fwiw.

I suggest we are at a critical point, right now. Labour do have just enough time to turn things round, address the problems that are starting to snowball, and offer a genuine choice.

Reform are offering solutions to people who are tired of being lied to, smeared, and patronised.

If Labour were to be radically honest, and take action to address the problems, they could possibly just about win back enough of the centre ground to swing the next election. And possibly even avoid what looks like building up to full blown race riots in the interim.

However, they would have to sacrifice a chunk of voters, or persuade them that it's not actually productive or healthy to cling to tribalism and othering, and that a democracy needs to try to work things out by dialogue.

That said, I'm not at all sure most politicians right now are in it to help people out. They appear to be in it to make the most of their own personal career, and then get out. I guess its disaster capitalism applied to politics.

Current trajectory is looking like Reform, who yes, will be disastrous in many ways, but I think the 33% odd of voters who are leaning to them would say 'what choice is there?'

I suggest

1. be honest about things being shit, and the reasons why
2. offer a solid, realistic route to better times

I think many of us who would come out as centrists on screening are currently defining themselves as politically homeless.

I'm increasingly despairing that Labour will even successfully go the distance of another year in power the way things are going. Powell's acceptance speech yesterday was dire. It was entirely soundbites, a lot of alienating PR lines of no substance which any normal person would find ridiculous in the face of the realities of the past few weeks. She was talking entirely to her own team, although I don't think she realises this, as I'm sure they don't talk like that to each other in real conversations. It was the special 'talking to the plebs' nonsense. I'm sure she was applauded for it.

Streeting has spoken this morning about the issue of the electorate seeing the cover ups and the dishonesty, and despairing. Yes. But much of this comes from the whole alternative reality beliefs, the arrogance of belief Labour are particularly dreadful at, the PR use of labels as short cuts to steer thinking, the branding and marketing, the culture, and the kind of people who get into these roles being selected by others of that kind. The massive lack of diversity by those wearing all the diversity badges and employing lots of diversity officers. The prejudice against those not like them. The bigotry and belief that you can force people to do what you, their better, sees as right for them to be made to do.

It is dawning perhaps on Streeting that normal people aren't like this, and emphatically don't approve of it. But when there's speeches like that shocker Powell made yesterday coming from the Deputy Leader, they and we are absolutely fucked.

I wonder if we'll see a challenge from Wes. He seems fairly astute.

Someone on here pointed out that Labour govt's audience is not the electorate. That is becoming more and more clear.

I know. Good enough to hold the fort for a few weeks. Not good enough to lead the country. Even the DUP have had a woman leader!

There were vox pops and anecdotes aplenty the day after the referendum showing people who had felt safe to vote Leave as a protest vote because they were sure the majority would vote Remain, and were horrified that Leave had won. I'm very afraid we'll see similar after the next General Election if Reform win or do well.

Look at his constituency majority and answer your own question

Personally think very highly of Shabana Mahmood and think she'd make a very strong leader.

My concern about Lucy Powell is her stirring the pot on the Supreme court Ruling.

I'm certain she will. I'd put money on at this point that there's going to be a serious attempt from politicians to insist they know better than the law of the country and should have primacy.

While they gaslight and show total lack of honesty, integrity, accountability, basic capacity to think outside their own incredibly privileged bubble and all their own issues with prejudice.

There will be one, for sure. How much appetite there will be for actually changing the EA to say that men can be women in law remains to be seen.

It'd be ... well, much worse than political hari kiri, a sort of rabid lemming charge of pearshaped basketcases sharkjumping over the edge of a cliff.

It is going to be vitally important to get it said, loudly, in as many newspapers, articles and cameras as possible, that this would be members of parliament seeking to actively remove the protections women and gay rights in law, solely so that a small group of men can force access to and use of them. Some of those men doing it, as everyone knows and those men openly acknowledge by actions and words, for sexual excitement.

MPs seeking to force non consenting women to be strip searched because the man wants the experience. For women to be locked up with Isla Bryson in his pretty pink leggings and his rap sheet. For lesbians to be unable to meet without being harassed and controlled by men. And those are only some of the examples.

I want the batshit MPs behind this to have to stand and own that they believe and want this to happen to women. And they still expect women and anyone with any basic ethics, morals and social awareness to vote for them.

I think one of the contributing factors is in fact how the media treat politics.

The are after headlines and gotcha moments.

And it just becomes an every increasing circle of politicians trying to get the media to report something about them / their party. But it is never a straight forward statement about this is where we are now, we need to do x, y & z to move forward.

Some of the so called political reporters are just absurd. They intrupt if the politician concerned doesn't reply with the answer the reporter wants, because they have already fixed in their minds who they are going to trap the politician.

When Kemi first become Tory leader, and she started getting negative press, I think part of it was she just talked in a matter of fact way. Which media news just thinks is boring, even if what she said was right.

And sad to say I think many of us are the same. Or are just unrealistic about how long some things might take.

Not that I have much sympathy for politicians, the party loyalty thing, and the double speak, but most news reporting is just rubbish.

Also, facile and very US focused, as well as personality driven. And worse time given to "opinions" not news. I really dont care what some bumbling news presenter thinks about anything. And the idea that we should tune in to 2 or 3 news presenter having inane discussions instead of actually reporting makes me really angry and frustrated.

I watch both France 24 and Al Jazeera and they have coverage of issues in other countries which I suspect many in the UK have never heard of.

It just ends up with all of us dumbing politics down to sound bites.

Surely getting this position is going to be career suicide?

Lucy Powell among MPs renting flats to each other at taxpayers’ expense
Deputy Leader claims arrangement saves taxpayer money because she charges less than market rate
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2025/10/27/lucy-powell-among-mps-renting-flats-to-each-other/ and https://archive.is/dYiE7

Nothing changes.

Adding this here rather than thread about when interim guideliness will be passed by HoC, as her comments could be said to be over interpreted.

Labour’s new deputy leader Lucy Powell says EHRC’s single-sex spaces draft is ‘not right’ as she backs trans-rights
https://www.attitude.co.uk/news/lucy-powell-trans-rights-ehrc-single-sex-spaces-draft-501306/

This is why I don’t understand people criticising Labour for ‘abandoning’ the working class. When they do things like vote against their own interests as some sort of middle finger to the establishment, then frankly they don’t deserve any kind of serious representation. Just ignore them and concentrate on the demographics that matter, like politically active middle class voters and ethnic minority communities who are reliable and generally quite grateful for a leg up in society.

Oh my God please stop.

Yes, it's interesting. She really didn't say very much, did she?

This is satire, right? It has to be.