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Who from the Labour Party is campaigning for Burnham?

Nick Palmer. And I.

This is what I posted on 5 June based on a visit 8 days ago:
"I spent half a day doorknocking in Makerfield last Sunday, in two different locations. There were some favourable responses for Burnham who had good name recognition and was personally known to a couple of people I met, but there were quite a few Reform and hostile against responses too. We did quite a bit of driving across about 5 miles of the constituency and in that time and during doorknocking I spotted about 20 homes with Reform stakes/posters compared with about 10 for Labour and 1 Restore, although I don't think you can take too much heed of the relative numbers for Reform v Labour (based on an appreciation that if willingness to display a poster was a reliable indicator of relative support, the Conservatives wouldn't have won a general election in my lifetime.) What was striking was just how many people were not aware of the national implications if Burnham won and the Labour campaign approach was not to mention that. That approach might change a bit now that Burnham has made clear his intentions. A couple of Reform supporters appeared to genuinely equivocate once I went off script and pointed out that if Burnham wins Starmer would probably be out of the door in months.

The overall impression was that it certainly wasn't in the bag for Burnham so I would counsel against going all in on Burnham based on the latest Survation polling. With a lot still in play I don't find odds of 2/9 on attractive although Burnham should still be favourite."

Next question. What's in it for the people of Makerfield. They elected the last MP two years ago only for him to abandon them. Now you have another self-important political type inserting himself into their lives for a clear motive of self-aggrandisement. The only plus point for Burnham is the poor quality of the other candidates. But is there really enthusiasm for him from Labour supporters locally (if you have to bus people in)?

What's in it for the people of Makerfield is having a genuinely local individual whom they hold to account being the Prime Minister of the country.

That is incredible, compared to constantly having out of touch London lawyers etc being the Prime Minister.

Is it perfect? No of course not, nothing is, but having the Prime Minister answer directly to you is surely good for any constituency.

Phone rings. Random mobile. I pick it up for some reason (usually leave for voicemail).

"hello its bloke calling from" company with three letters I have literally never heard of
"sorry, from who?"
He repeats. "You made an enquiry about" and then some incomprehensible garble description of some business service
"No, I didn't" and hung up

This is happening quite a lot. Random cold calls from companies whose script now makes out that we called them and made an enquiry.

Nope. Sod off.

Next time this happens do the following

1. String them along for a bit
2. Put headphones / ear defenders on
3. Test smoke alarm

Don't have time to string them along

Yes, you don't (??shouldn't) have time if you're working.

Us retirees on the other hand..........

Phone rings. Random mobile. I pick it up for some reason (usually leave for voicemail).

"hello its bloke calling from" company with three letters I have literally never heard of
"sorry, from who?"
He repeats. "You made an enquiry about" and then some incomprehensible garble description of some business service
"No, I didn't" and hung up

This is happening quite a lot. Random cold calls from companies whose script now makes out that we called them and made an enquiry.

Nope. Sod off.

Next time this happens do the following

1. String them along for a bit
2. Put headphones / ear defenders on
3. Test smoke alarm

When I used to get calls from green energy scammers I’d just agree to an appointment. Give them the postcode B1 2JP and tell them I was in a flat there.

It’s the old postcode for Central TV

When I’d get a call saying they could find the flat I’d tell them to pop into Central TV and ask for the private flats then ignore and other calls

They waste my time I’ll,waste theirs.

Same with others.

The Trump interview was quite something; an unhinged rant.
How anyone can think this man is a suitable leader, let alone president, is utterly beyond me.

Trump crashes out and cuts his interview with Welker short as she presses him on his lack of evidence for claiming elections are rigged

"You're either crooked or you're stupid. Let's call it quits. Because I've had enough. Thank you darling," he tells her."
https://x.com/atrupar/status/2063633879613805030

That interview was quite something else.

I’d guess he’s feeling the pressure over the Middle East. Especially with his irritating ally Israel trying to start it all up,again by bombing Beirut.

My guess is that he is an obnoxious, misogynistic boor who can't stand to be contradicted.

Phone rings. Random mobile. I pick it up for some reason (usually leave for voicemail).

"hello its bloke calling from" company with three letters I have literally never heard of
"sorry, from who?"
He repeats. "You made an enquiry about" and then some incomprehensible garble description of some business service
"No, I didn't" and hung up

This is happening quite a lot. Random cold calls from companies whose script now makes out that we called them and made an enquiry.

Nope. Sod off.

Next time this happens do the following

1. String them along for a bit
2. Put headphones / ear defenders on
3. Test smoke alarm

Actually I have just had a phone call asking if I am John Barr to which I put on my very old voice and said yeees I am. He then went on about my accident and I just strung him along before telling him to get a proper job !!!!

Who from the Labour Party is campaigning for Burnham?

Nick Palmer. And I.

This is what I posted on 5 June based on a visit 8 days ago:
"I spent half a day doorknocking in Makerfield last Sunday, in two different locations. There were some favourable responses for Burnham who had good name recognition and was personally known to a couple of people I met, but there were quite a few Reform and hostile against responses too. We did quite a bit of driving across about 5 miles of the constituency and in that time and during doorknocking I spotted about 20 homes with Reform stakes/posters compared with about 10 for Labour and 1 Restore, although I don't think you can take too much heed of the relative numbers for Reform v Labour (based on an appreciation that if willingness to display a poster was a reliable indicator of relative support, the Conservatives wouldn't have won a general election in my lifetime.) What was striking was just how many people were not aware of the national implications if Burnham won and the Labour campaign approach was not to mention that. That approach might change a bit now that Burnham has made clear his intentions. A couple of Reform supporters appeared to genuinely equivocate once I went off script and pointed out that if Burnham wins Starmer would probably be out of the door in months.

The overall impression was that it certainly wasn't in the bag for Burnham so I would counsel against going all in on Burnham based on the latest Survation polling. With a lot still in play I don't find odds of 2/9 on attractive although Burnham should still be favourite."

Next question. What's in it for the people of Makerfield. They elected the last MP two years ago only for him to abandon them. Now you have another self-important political type inserting himself into their lives for a clear motive of self-aggrandisement. The only plus point for Burnham is the poor quality of the other candidates. But is there really enthusiasm for him from Labour supporters locally (if you have to bus people in)?

Morning All!

I suppose the un-answered question is "what's in it for the constituents of any PM?" Chap (or chap-ess) surely has very little time for the constituency matters which take up most of a back-bench MP's time, and although I realise 'there's someone in the office to deal with those' is it quite the same?

How many voters vote on the basis of what the MP will do for them and the constituency, though? I think in my life I have had just one interaction with my local MP, which is when I wrote to them to get a ticket to do the tour up the houses of parliament clock tower. I have no idea whether my MP at the moment does a good job on sorting out constituent issues or a terrible one.

It's also quite possible that Burnham would do a better job here (making sure there's a good staff in place so it doesn't cause political blowups, plus the PM's constituency office sending a "what's going on here?" query probably gets more attention than a random MP doing it) compared to a Reform MP who might not have a party with a depth of experience supporting them or the connections to do this bit of the job well.

I don’t think squeezing Restore is going to work. There were always a bunch of Reform supporters who thought Farage was a wet. Now they have a home.

If the Reform candidate was a firebrand, maybe. But he’s a damp squib.

When Reform lose, the autopsy will be down to a shite candidate.

He inspires GOTV - for his opponents.

Reform seem to have a lot of problem with shite candidates.

As does the Greens. Both their candidates for Makerfield were inept as was their local election candidates (again, same for Reform)

The insurgent parties need to professionalise its candidate selection and vetting ASAP

That's the problem though with being "insurgent" - you attract people who, apart from believing (supposedly) in your core values, have no political experience at all.

I was politically active when the SDP came into being - two thirds of the new SDP members had never been in any political party at all. Inevitably, it was left to the ex-Labour and ex-Conservative members to show them what to do and how it worked. The came the Alliance and the Liberals worked with the SDP.

This was all before the days of social media of course.

Even after that. In 2014 I heard several Labour activists observe that Better Together was a means by which Labour taught the Tories how to fight elections. A refresher might be helpful but I'm not sure who would be giving it these days.

Who from the Labour Party is campaigning for Burnham?

Nick Palmer. And I.

This is what I posted on 5 June based on a visit 8 days ago:
"I spent half a day doorknocking in Makerfield last Sunday, in two different locations. There were some favourable responses for Burnham who had good name recognition and was personally known to a couple of people I met, but there were quite a few Reform and hostile against responses too. We did quite a bit of driving across about 5 miles of the constituency and in that time and during doorknocking I spotted about 20 homes with Reform stakes/posters compared with about 10 for Labour and 1 Restore, although I don't think you can take too much heed of the relative numbers for Reform v Labour (based on an appreciation that if willingness to display a poster was a reliable indicator of relative support, the Conservatives wouldn't have won a general election in my lifetime.) What was striking was just how many people were not aware of the national implications if Burnham won and the Labour campaign approach was not to mention that. That approach might change a bit now that Burnham has made clear his intentions. A couple of Reform supporters appeared to genuinely equivocate once I went off script and pointed out that if Burnham wins Starmer would probably be out of the door in months.

The overall impression was that it certainly wasn't in the bag for Burnham so I would counsel against going all in on Burnham based on the latest Survation polling. With a lot still in play I don't find odds of 2/9 on attractive although Burnham should still be favourite."

Next question. What's in it for the people of Makerfield. They elected the last MP two years ago only for him to abandon them. Now you have another self-important political type inserting himself into their lives for a clear motive of self-aggrandisement. The only plus point for Burnham is the poor quality of the other candidates. But is there really enthusiasm for him from Labour supporters locally (if you have to bus people in)?

The question is who do you think has the chance to actually change things for you? Directly elect the PM on a platform of change with a track record of doing stuff? Or a moron who wants to ban all knives?

What actual good would electing Kenyon actually do now? Its a by-election so they get a Free Hit. The objective? Get rid of Starmer and change direction. Burnham will do both. And if he fails, then oust him in favour of a Reform government in 2029.

LOL, even if Mr Burnham fails, in 2029 there'll be another argument why Reform shouldn't be elected.

I don't think there's any risk of running out of arguments why Reform shouldn't be elected!

Nick Palmer's constituency report suggests it might be squeaky bum time for Burnham.

I’d trust NPXMP’s informed comments absolutely.

But I can’t shake my uninformed view that Burnham will win easily.

I wouldn't. NPXMP infamously got it badly wrong in his own constituency in the run up to GE2015.

He's probably concerned about turnout. Burnham will win because he's the root to getting rid of Starmer.

And that's as far as most people's thinking will go.

Here's the thing - what do Conservatives actually want from this by-election?

IF Burnham wins, it's likely Starmer will soon be gone and there'll be a new PM in town and life may get tougher for Badenoch in the Commons, OTOH, Reform will be badly dented and that will increase the chances of the Conservatives moving back into a clear second and re-establishing themselves as the alternative "Right wing" option to Labour.

However, let's say Reform wins - Starmer stays, weakened and humiliated BUT Reform will be buoyant and look more like a Government in waiting with the Conservatives becoming less and less relevant.

Interesting times?

Good morning

Unequivocally this conservative wants Burnham to win for two main reasons:

He will almost certainly end Starmer's tenure { listening to Starmer address a tech conference this am he was more Ai than Ai, robotic and uninspiring} and at the same time stop Farage in his tracks

Yesterday, Starmer entered his comfort zone with Zelensky, Macron and Merz at no 10 in yet another pointless meeting and almost at the same time Iran and Israel recommenced throwing missiles at one another

On Burnham, I have often said I like him and he will bring to labour a charisma but also a laser focus on domestic issues and I doubt he has a clue on the international stage but if he appoints a good foreign secretary { not Starmer or Cooper} let them take the strain much like Cameron did

The Andy v Kemi show will be very interesting and I notice even Gauke is praising Kemi this morning. I do expect their interaction to be more collegiate which would be very welcome

Of course, we cannot know the future but as far as I am concerned the far right (Farage) and far left (Polanski) need to be beaten and a move to more centre policies is desirable, though not endless talk about the EU

Comfort zone?

Comfort zone?

Wash your mouth out with soap and water. It would be nice to ignore Ukraine, but it would be utterly wrong, and not in the UK's interest.

It's one thing to oppose Starmer as PM, but you're better than this

I am not for one minute suggesting we ignore Ukraine and that is not my position

However, Starmer's comfort zone is in the endless meetings he has internationally but simply they have become a talking shop and Starmer in particular is a lame duck Prime Minister who has still not produced a defence plan and we have no money anyway