Labour: The Keir Starmer years (1 Viewer)

[win_the_game]

I think Lisa Nandy could do well taking on Michael Gove with the 'Levelling Up' brief.

 

[Alex]

I think Lisa Nandy could do well taking on Michael Gove with the 'Levelling Up' brief.

Hot TOWN chat

 

[Madison]

Deputy Leader, Shadow First Secretary of State, Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Shadow Secretary of State for the Future of Work: Angela Rayner

Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer: Rachel Reeves

Shadow Secretary of State for Business and Industrial Strategy: Jonathan Reynolds

Shadow Secretary of State of Climate Change and Net Zero: Ed Miliband

Shadow Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing, Communities & Local Government: Lisa Nandy

Shadow Secretary of State for Defence: John Healey

Shadow Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport: Lucy Powell

Shadow Secretary of State for Education: Bridget Phillipson

Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Jim McMahon

Shadow Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Affairs: David Lammy

Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care: Wes Streeting

Shadow Secretary of State for the Home Department: Yvette Cooper

Shadow Secretary of State for International Trade: Nick Thomas-Symonds

Shadow Minister of State at the Cabinet Office: Jenny Chapman

Shadow Secretary of State for Justice: Steve Reed

Shadow Secretary of State for Transport: Louise Haigh

Shadow Secretary of State for Women and Equalities, Party Chair and Chair of Labour Policy Review: Anneliese Dodds

Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions: Jonathan Ashworth

Shadow Attorney General: Emily Thornberry

Shadow Cabinet Minister for Mental Health: Rosena Allin-Khan

Shadow Cabinet Minister for International Development: Preet Gill

Shadow Chief Secretary to HM Treasury: Pat McFadden

Shadow Secretary of State for Wales: Jo Stevens

Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland: Ian Murray

Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland: Peter Kyle

National Campaign Coordinator: Shabana Mahmood

Shadow Leader of the House of Commons: Thangam Debbonaire

Shadow Chief Whip: Alan Campbell

Shadow Leader of the House of Lords: Angela Smith

Opposition Chief Whip in the House: Roy Kennedy

 

[Indie]

I'd go net zero for Miliband.

 

[Iguana]

Ooh Wes is our MP. He seems like a good chap so glad he got a good promotion.

 

[funky]

Looking forward to the Leader debates between Jacob Rees Mogg and Thangam Debbonaire (!)

And next week, on Downton Abbey…

 

[Penelope]

Streeting is Shadow Health - makes sense.

Does it?! (or are you being sarcastic?)

I'd say the thing that sticks out about this is how little a lot of the new appointees make sense for the roles they've been put in. Why move Ashcroft & Reynolds? Why waste Thornberry by putting her somewhere so out of the way?

If I was going to move Reynolds, I'd have put either Streeting or Phillipson in the DWP. Both the latter are good media performers, but I'm not sure Streeting has any views on Health at all beyond 'the NHS should be free at point of use' (and, you know, has a lot of experience with Education given he's former NUS and avowedly anti-fees...), and Phillipson's actually done a load of stuff on welfare over the years.

 

[Madison]

I was thinking more of the Kidney cancer. He can point to the NHS saving his life this year.

 

[Indie]

I was thinking more of the Kidney cancer. He can point to the NHS saving his life this year.

I look forward to my job as pilot. I mean i must know how a plane flies, i've been in one.

 

[Indie]

(i realise that's not really your point)

 

[Alex]

Ooh Wes is our MP. He seems like a good chap so glad he got a good promotion.

I have to be honest i’d not really paid much attention to him until lately but i’m getting next leader vibes off him. He speaks very eloquently but also has a bit of passion unlike Starmer. I could see him winning over middle England

 

[Tisch]

I have to be honest i’d not really paid much attention to him until lately but i’m getting next leader vibes off him. He speaks very eloquently but also has a bit of passion unlike Starmer. I could see him winning over middle England

He definitely would. I was surprised he didn't leave the party under the Corbyn to be honest as he was so vehemently against him (plus I think he's Jewish?), but he stuck it out and it's done him good. After winning the seat by something stupid like 10 votes in 2015 he increased his majority by thousands in 2019.

He also locally just feels really "present". I like him. He's also GAY

 

[Sheena]

He definitely would. I was surprised he didn't leave the party under the Corbyn to be honest as he was so vehemently against him (plus I think he's Jewish?), but he stuck it out and it's done him good. After winning the seat by something stupid like 10 votes in 2015 he increased his majority by thousands in 2019.

He also locally just feels really "present". I like him. He's also GAY

Not strictly true. He increased his majority in 2017 and then that was halved in 2019.

Only reason I know this is because my MP, Stephen Morgan, was the only Labour incumbent to increase his majority 2017-2019

 

[Sheena]

Stephen Morgan, who is also gay, by the way

 

[Indie]

Only reason I know this is because my MP, Stephen Morgan, was the only Labour incumbent to increase his majority 2017-2019

Also not true - Canterbury was an extended lead too. I'm not sure about others.

 

[Soldi]

My MP is gay but Tory

 

[Tisch]

Not strictly true. He increased his majority in 2017 and then that was halved in 2019.

Only reason I know this is because my MP, Stephen Morgan, was the only Labour incumbent to increase his majority 2017-2019

Ah I was obviously getting 2017 and 2019 mixed up.

Either way, he feels very popular and comfortable round here.

 

[Sheena]

Also not true - Canterbury was an extended lead too. I'm not sure about others.

Oh ok, I didn’t realise that.

He was certainly the biggest, though.

 

[Mother Superior]

Oh ok, I didn’t realise that.

He was certainly the biggest, though.

 

[Jark]

My MP is gay but Tory

what god giveth with one handjob, he taketh with the other

 

[ZenGiraffe]

Question. In the fullness of time, do we think Kier accepting Christian Wakeford with open arms will be seen as a good thing or not?

It is very easy ammo for the SNP to attack them, and to be honest, I am really uncomfortable that a man with his voting record has a place in the main left wing party of England and Wales. Shouldn't he really have went to the Lib Dems?

 

[ButterTart]

My opinion on this is that Labour need to convert Tory voters to win the next election. It’s more meaningful that he went Labour not LD as it’s making a statement that Labour is the go-to party for anyone disenfranchised by the hard right takeover of the Tories. He seems a bit of a cunt if I’m honest but he’s so visible now he almost has to tow the line.

 

[Kate]

Plus of course he's STILL refusing to let Corbyn back in. But a Tory? WELCOME! COME ON IN!

 

[ZenGiraffe]

Do we (@Penelope tends to be good for these) have those flow charts of voter change from one poll to another? What is the Con > Labour movement like, compared to Labour > Green in England?

 

[VoR]

Under the circumstances I think it was the right call. Would have been quite ridiculous to turn down such an opportunity.

Politics is predicated on the idea that an electorate can change their minds, so while it's rare, you can't really dismiss the possibility of a politician doing the same thing.

In reality I think this guy is probably just a bit of a messy drama queen and he probably won't last long before either going independent, getting replaced or returning to a post-Boris Tory fold. But who knows?

 

[ButterTart]

Plus of course he's STILL refusing to let Corbyn back in. But a Tory? WELCOME! COME ON IN!

Genuine question: Do you not think Corbyn being distanced from the party at the minute is a good thing? His brother is an anti-lockdown loon so his presence would have given the Tories ammunition and weakened Labour’s position on Partygate.

 

[Indie]

I PARTLY give him the benefit of the doubt on voting records, because as with most MPs, they just do what they're told to by the party. And as a Northern MP, he might have found the time around Southern Shire Tories a huge fucking eye opener.

But i do feel uncomfortable with any Tories joining Labour to be honest.

 

[Penelope]

Do we (@Penelope tends to be good for these) have those flow charts of voter change from one poll to another? What is the Con > Labour movement like, compared to Labour > Green in England?

One in ten Con 2019 voters currently say they'd vote Labour atm - let me have a look around

 

[Penelope]

 

[Kate]

Genuine question: Do you not think Corbyn being distanced from the party at the minute is a good thing? His brother is an anti-lockdown loon so his presence would have given the Tories ammunition and weakened Labour’s position on Partygate.

Corbyn quite clearly doesn't agree with his brother AT ALL, and how much more presence would he really have as a backbench Labour MP as opposed to a backbench independent MP, as he is now?

Is having a nutjob for a brother through no fault of your own worse than being an actual Tory? Don't get me wrong, I'm delighted about whatsisface crossing the floor, but it's NOT A GOOD LOOK for Starmer.

 

[Alex]

Question. In the fullness of time, do we think Kier accepting Christian Wakeford with open arms will be seen as a good thing or not?

It is very easy ammo for the SNP to attack them, and to be honest, I am really uncomfortable that a man with his voting record has a place in the main left wing party of England and Wales. Shouldn't he really have went to the Lib Dems?

He’s way too brexity for the Lib Dems !

 

[ZenGiraffe]

So the answer to my question is that the Greens remain NEGLIGIBLE.

 

[Kate]

Meanwhile the Forde report is delayed AGAIN

ANYWAY

 

[ButterTart]

Corbyn quite clearly doesn't agree with his brother AT ALL, and how much more presence would he really have as a backbench Labour MP as opposed to a backbench independent MP, as he is now?

Is having a nutjob for a brother through no fault of your own worse than being an actual Tory? Don't get me wrong, I'm delighted about whatsisface crossing the floor, but it's NOT A GOOD LOOK for Starmer.

Corbyn’s an easy target though, isn’t he? He’s somebody the Tories can rally people against. I just feel like he’s better off sidelined at the minute because it doesn’t matter what his actual relationship with his brother is like, the Tory media would clearly use it against Labour anyway.

 

[ZenGiraffe]

Corbyn’s an easy target though, isn’t he? He’s somebody the Tories can rally people against. I just feel like he’s better off sidelined at the minute because it doesn’t matter what his actual relationship with his brother is like, the Tory media would clearly use it against Labour anyway.

But surely this is just taking leave of your principles to ensure your side wins?

 

[Penelope]

But surely this is just taking leave of your principles to ensure your side wins?

I'm sure Jeremy really did think the terrible thing about austerity was police and border force cuts in 2017

 

[Kate]

But surely this is just taking leave of your principles to ensure your side wins?

UNHEARD OF

 

[Penelope]

As it goes, I imagine the vast majority of voters would care as much about the SNP (or any party really) banging on about Christian Wakeford at a general election as they did whenever Scottish Labour people banged on about Tasmina Sheikh-Ahmed being an ex-Tory.

 

[Madison]

But surely this is just taking leave of your principles to ensure your side wins?

First you win, and *then* you can do whatever you want.

After 13 years of trying and failing, getting the Tories out needs to be prioritised. I don’t want five more years of of the most insanely right wing cabinet in history because of principles.

 

[Madison]

Or better still, win, put in electoral reform, and then from there on after we have the all parties of the spectrum to suit everyone. Corbyn can lead the Left party to 50 seats, and Change UK can win five seats.

But still need to win first.