The key line in Morgan's resignation statement is this:
The decision to appoint Peter Mandelson was wrong.
He also of course says his advice was wrong blah blah, but as he has to go because the advice was flawed he is very obviously opening the door to 'the PM must go because the decision was wrong.
Others advise. The PM decides.
But the PM is a slippery lawyer who decides everything but weirdly is never quite responsible for anything that goes wrong. Just like Blair with the WMD lies.
So the chances of any accountability there are pretty low I think.
Sweet Jesus it’s far worse in reality. Facing the restrained delicacy of Kings Cross
We are a nation determined on self harm. Determined to mutilate ourselves aesthetically, culturally, demographically, politically
We are in every sense in a terrifying decline
You need to write a column about this. For once I'll support a full on Spectator mutton chop rant.
Somewhere there will be some Grade A architectural bollocks about how the monumental use of London Stock Yellow reflects the iconic use of brick in Kings Cross and the British Library.
But Carns for PM in 2026 is absurd. Not quite 'Rehman Chishti for PM in 2022' absurd, but less plausible than 'Tom Tugendhat for PM in 2022'.
The longlist is what it's been all along- Rayner, Lammy, Cooper, Mahmood, Reeves. Ed Miliband at a stretch. Streeting at a bigger stretch. As things stand, the irresistible force to remove Starmer is meeting the immovable object of needing to replace him with someone available.
I feel this is a far bigger game of football for Liverpool than Man City. Lots made of Man City in title race, but if they finished 2nd, and still in 3 cups including a final, whilst Liverpool finish sixth, with Manure ahead of them playing the Champions League instead of Liverpool, that’s a far worse season outcome for Liverpool. BY A MAGNITUDE.
Defeat for Liverpool this afternoon, and there’s a definite gap opening up between Liverpool and Champions League football. And Liverpools misfiring midfield and defence just can’t contain Man City direct - wildcatting long balls today.
Why have we had such a series of politically useless Prime Ministers?
Setting aside whether you agree with them ideologically or policy wise or not: May, Truss, Sunak, Starmer were all in their own way pretty crap at politics and ineffective as leaders. And Boris, while great at playing politics, was much less so at governing.
We have to go back 10 years or more for someone who isn't going to go down in going to go down in history as a bottom quartile Prime Minister.
I'm not sure if Starmer limps on or not for now. But there's a zero percent chance he fights the next election as leader.
Keir Starmer: “It’s been an honour working with Morgan McSweeney for many years. He turned our party around after one of its worst ever defeats and played a central role running our election campaign. It is largely thanks to his dedication, loyalty and leadership that we won a landslide majority and have the chance to change the country.
“Having worked closely with Morgan in opposition and in government, I have seen every day his commitment to the Labour Party and to our country. Our party and I owe him a debt of gratitude, and I thank him for his service.”
After partygate, Boris quitting, then the Trussterfuck, Mr Tumble could have been in charge of Labour Party strategy and they’d still have won. As it was they managed to get fewer votes than Corbyn’s bad GE, and were only victorious thanks to low turnout and the split on the right
But Carns for PM in 2026 is absurd. Not quite 'Rehman Chishti for PM in 2022' absurd, but less plausible than 'Tom Tugendhat for PM in 2022'.
The longlist is what it's been all along- Rayner, Lammy, Cooper, Mahmood, Reeves. Ed Miliband at a stretch. Streeting at a bigger stretch. As things stand, the irresistible force to remove Starmer is meeting the immovable object of needing to replace him with someone available.
I think we can't discount Streeting. The groups are:
New Labour. The group of the Blairites. Has money and influence. Preferred candidate: Streeting
Blue Labour. The group of the Glasmanites. Has influence but no money. Preferred candidate: Mahmood
Old Labour. the group of the progressive left, the soft left and the Corbynites. Has the soul of the party. Preferred candidate: Rayner
The Blairites will generate money, quotes, and polling that says what they want it to like crazy, because they are rich. Because of this I assume Streeting will make it to the top two. Blue Labour has influence beyond its support and won't get its candidate into the top two, so Mahmood will make a good run but inevitably falter. Rayner will get to the top two despite her manifest problems.
But Carns for PM in 2026 is absurd. Not quite 'Rehman Chishti for PM in 2022' absurd, but less plausible than 'Tom Tugendhat for PM in 2022'.
The longlist is what it's been all along- Rayner, Lammy, Cooper, Mahmood, Reeves. Ed Miliband at a stretch. Streeting at a bigger stretch. As things stand, the irresistible force to remove Starmer is meeting the immovable object of needing to replace him with someone available.
I think we can't discount Streeting. The groups are:
New Labour. The group of the Blairites. Has money and influence. Preferred candidate: Streeting
Blue Labour. The group of the Glasmanites. Has influence but no money. Preferred candidate: Mahmood
Old Labour. the group of the progressive left, the soft left and the Corbynites. Has the soul of the party. Preferred candidate: Rayner
The Blairites will generate money, quotes, and polling that says what they want it to like crazy, because they are rich. Because of this I assume Streeting will make it to the top two. Blue Labour has influence beyond its support and won't get its candidate into the top two, so Mahmood will make a good run but inevitably falter. Rayner will get to the top two despite her manifest problems.
It will need to be someone who allows MPs far more access to No 10 and 11 Downing Street than McSweeney did.
Politically savvy Able to liase with Downing Street operation Popular across the general base. Respected across the parliamentary estate, at least by those reasonable enough not to be over tribal.
One name springs to mind who could start today.
Jonathan Ashworth
Lord Austin or John Would Cock
Ian Austen is just about the biggest ass hole tosser to ever be suffixed by the word Labour
The world heard JD Vance being booed at the Olympics. Except for viewers in the US https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2026/feb/07/jd-vance-boos-winter-olympics ...When Team USA entered the San Siro during the parade of nations, the speed skater Erin Jackson led the delegation into a wall of cheers. Moments later, when cameras cut to US vice-president JD Vance and second lady Usha Vance, large sections of the crowd responded with boos. Not subtle ones, but audible and sustained ones. Canadian viewers heard them. Journalists seated in the press tribunes in the upper deck, myself included, clearly heard them. But as I quickly realized from a groupchat with friends back home, American viewers watching NBC did not...
Thank God the BBC never doctors footage to make, say, Trump look really bad
Whataboutery fail.
It regularly edits his nonsense to make him sound semi-coherent.
The whole media does this. Watch a Trump speech in full, or read a transcript, and it is way worse than his soundbites.
You don't need to edit Trump to make him sound bad, he is bad, play what he says in full and let the audience decide. No reasonable person would listen to Trump speaking at length and think he sounds okay.
It's more that no reasonable person would listen to Trump speaking at length.
I did so once (the entirety of his mad Greenland address to the NATO leaders) - which to the BBC's credit they broadcast in full. Even Leon thought that was nuts.
Keir Starmer: “It’s been an honour working with Morgan McSweeney for many years. He turned our party around after one of its worst ever defeats and played a central role running our election campaign. It is largely thanks to his dedication, loyalty and leadership that we won a landslide majority and have the chance to change the country.
“Having worked closely with Morgan in opposition and in government, I have seen every day his commitment to the Labour Party and to our country. Our party and I owe him a debt of gratitude, and I thank him for his service.”
After partygate, Boris quitting, then the Trussterfuck, Mr Tumble could have been in charge of Labour Party strategy and they’d still have won. As it was they managed to get fewer votes than Corbyn’s bad GE, and were only victorious thanks to low turnout and the split on the right
They thought they'd won the argument. But they didn't even make an argument other than "change".
They concentrated so much on winning the election they forgot to concentrate on how Government works.
They don't know what the problems are and show little sign of learning.
Starmer enjoys the foreign aspects of the job but has no idea how the domestic aspects of the job works. Blair handled this by giving domestic stuff to Brown, who could handle it. Starmer hasn't really got a Brown except for Reeves and I don't think she can.
As Kemi has just said with Starmer its always somebody else's fault
Says the woman who just won't admit she's ever wrong. That by the way is from Tory quotes.
Starmer has taken full responsibility that is crystal clear.
If the investigation finds him at fault he'll l go no doubt about that.
Kemi said one of them had to go one has.
Her fecking arrogance again.
This is nuts. It’s all about Kemi Badenoch.
Crazy. She has not really put a foot wrong this last six months.
Oh, and why do,you keep posting stuff relating to me that I have posted on here, mainly prior to you joining. Four or five times now. I don’t know you. It’s a little creepy and a little stalkerish. Unless, of course, you’re a regular here posting under an alias. 🤔
Calling out Bravermans mental health not a mistake
Losing a load of MPs not a mistake
It’s only a mistake when your side do it.
You ignored the last bit too. All somewhat creepy.
Why have we had such a series of politically useless Prime Ministers?
Setting aside whether you agree with them ideologically or policy wise or not: May, Truss, Sunak, Starmer were all in their own way pretty crap at politics and ineffective as leaders. And Boris, while great at playing politics, was much less so at governing.
We have to go back 10 years or more for someone who isn't going to go down in going to go down in history as a bottom quartile Prime Minister.
I'm not sure if Starmer limps on or not for now. But there's a zero percent chance he fights the next election as leader.
Because none of them have any experience in running a country. Or at the very least, a city, a state, a local authority. Something.
Why have we had such a series of politically useless Prime Ministers?
Setting aside whether you agree with them ideologically or policy wise or not: May, Truss, Sunak, Starmer were all in their own way pretty crap at politics and ineffective as leaders. And Boris, while great at playing politics, was much less so at governing.
We have to go back 10 years or more for someone who isn't going to go down in going to go down in history as a bottom quartile Prime Minister.
I'm not sure if Starmer limps on or not for now. But there's a zero percent chance he fights the next election as leader.
An interesting, paradoxical theory that I think makes a lot of sense:
It’s both paradoxical yet entirely obvious: the more level the playing field gets, the fiercest and unhealthiest the competition will be. Because this is politics, what this means is that the right people will, over time, become less likely to get picked, as the ones getting ahead will, more often than not, be the sort of people happy to entirely debase themselves for professional advancement.
And yes, that includes Starmer's role in Corbyn's shadow cabinet just as much as Truss climbing the greasy pole by saying whatever her immediate boss wanted her to say
Why have we had such a series of politically useless Prime Ministers?
Setting aside whether you agree with them ideologically or policy wise or not: May, Truss, Sunak, Starmer were all in their own way pretty crap at politics and ineffective as leaders. And Boris, while great at playing politics, was much less so at governing.
We have to go back 10 years or more for someone who isn't going to go down in going to go down in history as a bottom quartile Prime Minister.
I'm not sure if Starmer limps on or not for now. But there's a zero percent chance he fights the next election as leader.
Because none of them have any experience in running a country. Or at the very least, a city, a state, a local authority. Something.
Hmmm, doesn't seem to matter that much. Blair was capable enough, despite having zero previous experience of running anything. His main mistake, Iraq, had nothing to do with inexperience.
I'm finding it hard to think of counter examples, but Chamberlain had a lot of executive experience, and doesn't rate highly amongst PM.
Lots of rumours - not substantiated -that Louise Casey will be the PM’s new chief of staff, because in recent months “she has been his answer to pretty much every crisis” and “he would be crazy not to appoint a woman and break up the boys club”
The comments in the article ring true according to a family member in Life Science. Her GSK support evaporated when they moved the research to China so she moved into the commercial side. That has disappeared as the amounts they could get out of the US in terms of drugs pricing reduced because of Trump. In both cases, no amount of political decision making could have sorted the issue. Sometimes, circumstances just move against you.
We probably won’t get to know much of the detail, but congratulations to everyone involved.
Don’t worry. I’m sure the Palestine action loons will be onto it.
Indeed, let’s not give them ideas.
I suspect it’s probably being done in conjunction with established arms industry suppliers, licensing the Ukranian IP for whatever weapons they’re making. Their facilities and distribution are already very well guarded, and any idiots trying to break in will find themselves meeting armed police.
AI video generation is coming on in leaps and bounds, every month there are new developments that push the boundaries. There's still issues with continuity that need to be carefully handled, but if you work in traditional film-making be scared.
Keir Starmer: “It’s been an honour working with Morgan McSweeney for many years. He turned our party around after one of its worst ever defeats and played a central role running our election campaign. It is largely thanks to his dedication, loyalty and leadership that we won a landslide majority and have the chance to change the country.
“Having worked closely with Morgan in opposition and in government, I have seen every day his commitment to the Labour Party and to our country. Our party and I owe him a debt of gratitude, and I thank him for his service.”
After partygate, Boris quitting, then the Trussterfuck, Mr Tumble could have been in charge of Labour Party strategy and they’d still have won. As it was they managed to get fewer votes than Corbyn’s bad GE, and were only victorious thanks to low turnout and the split on the right
No, Rishi's initial 'grown ups' bounce showed the public could have forgiven all that. The trouble was, he was shit and all he was interested in was managing decline. He wasn't drastically worsening it a la Starmer, but he wasn't doing anything about it.
But Carns for PM in 2026 is absurd. Not quite 'Rehman Chishti for PM in 2022' absurd, but less plausible than 'Tom Tugendhat for PM in 2022'.
The longlist is what it's been all along- Rayner, Lammy, Cooper, Mahmood, Reeves. Ed Miliband at a stretch. Streeting at a bigger stretch. As things stand, the irresistible force to remove Starmer is meeting the immovable object of needing to replace him with someone available.
I think we can't discount Streeting. The groups are:
New Labour. The group of the Blairites. Has money and influence. Preferred candidate: Streeting
Blue Labour. The group of the Glasmanites. Has influence but no money. Preferred candidate: Mahmood
Old Labour. the group of the progressive left, the soft left and the Corbynites. Has the soul of the party. Preferred candidate: Rayner
The Blairites will generate money, quotes, and polling that says what they want it to like crazy, because they are rich. Because of this I assume Streeting will make it to the top two. Blue Labour has influence beyond its support and won't get its candidate into the top two, so Mahmood will make a good run but inevitably falter. Rayner will get to the top two despite her manifest problems.
If Starmer goes now it's quite a different picture when deciding who to replace him with than if he was rejected in 2028.
If he hangs on until 2028, the new leader wouldn't actually need to do anything. They would be immediately in election campaign mode - policy announcements but little time for anything meaningful to be implemented. I think that scenario would have favoured the likes of Raynor who are politically popular and would help win back some Green support. Gives Labour a better chance for a more respectable election outcome, if not winning.
If he is ousted this year, that calculation changes. You need someone who is ready to govern on day one. Or at least have a decent go at doing a better job of it than Starmer has. I don't think Raynor fits the bill. I would suggest Streeting (centrist candidate) or Miliband (left candidate) would be more suitable in the circumstances.
I see they've done the usual thing of putting some dangly plants into the building scheme and sticking some trees in front of it in the cad image to make it look slightly less fuck ugly.
AI video generation is coming on in leaps and bounds, every month there are new developments that push the boundaries. There's still issues with continuity that need to be carefully handled, but if you work in traditional film-making be scared.
Surely this shouldn't surprise anybody, and is probably a good thing. If all you want to watch is brainless crap, AI is the perfect producer for you.
Why have we had such a series of politically useless Prime Ministers?
Setting aside whether you agree with them ideologically or policy wise or not: May, Truss, Sunak, Starmer were all in their own way pretty crap at politics and ineffective as leaders. And Boris, while great at playing politics, was much less so at governing.
We have to go back 10 years or more for someone who isn't going to go down in going to go down in history as a bottom quartile Prime Minister.
I'm not sure if Starmer limps on or not for now. But there's a zero percent chance he fights the next election as leader.
Because none of them have any experience in running a country. Or at the very least, a city, a state, a local authority. Something.
I consider the effort, care and expertise with which a small charity I know is run.
Meanwhile, the betting. It hasn't moved that much. Starmer is still around 1.4 to go this year. That's the same price Kemi was to go last year. Will the toaster function this time?
Meanwhile, the betting. It hasn't moved that much. Starmer is still around 1.4 to go this year. That's the same price Kemi was to go last year. Will the toaster function this time?
I doubt it. Bottom line is there is no credible replacement likely to get 81 nominations and there is no other way to get rid.
Blocking Burnham is, whatever was said at the time, looking like a masterstroke.
Thank God @Leon and @Luckyguy1983 have identified the true problem with modern Britain: people being free to build the buildings they want to build.
If I understand correctly it's not as simple as that. Recent changes include
The creation of, and expansion of the Building Safety Regulator, leading to large delays as it cannot process the volume of work
The large amount of bureaucracy involved in building houses or housing
New regulations required to hit net zero, resulting in expensive houses with small windows
New regulations required to improve safety, even when not sane (eg restrict window opening and install bars to prevent people sitting on sills)
Labour attempts to speed things up by removing asthetics being considered has speeded up planning, but Gresham's law works for housing as well and some of the new builds look ugh.
In fairness I don't know if this is a Starmer thing or a Sunak thing, but at the very least Starmer isn't making things better and Rayner shat the bed on this. Tom Harwood used to be good on this until he became radicalised and ranting about unimportant things, and CreateStreets remains good.
Lots of rumours - not substantiated -that Louise Casey will be the PM’s new chief of staff, because in recent months “she has been his answer to pretty much every crisis” and “he would be crazy not to appoint a woman and break up the boys club”
No, no, no. She's supposed to be doing the social care review and that is v v v badly needed.
Thank God @Leon and @Luckyguy1983 have identified the true problem with modern Britain: people being free to build the buildings they want to build.
Even if they're plug ugly?
As part of my UnDicatorship, one building that has won a modern architectural award will be demolished each year. Without notice to the architect. Or the occupants.
Lots of rumours - not substantiated -that Louise Casey will be the PM’s new chief of staff, because in recent months “she has been his answer to pretty much every crisis” and “he would be crazy not to appoint a woman and break up the boys club”
No, no, no. She's supposed to be doing the social care review and that is v v v badly needed.
Preston has had reliable source in Labour for yonks.
We probably won’t get to know much of the detail, but congratulations to everyone involved.
Don’t worry. I’m sure the Palestine action loons will be onto it.
Indeed, let’s not give them ideas.
I suspect it’s probably being done in conjunction with established arms industry suppliers, licensing the Ukranian IP for whatever weapons they’re making. Their facilities and distribution are already very well guarded, and any idiots trying to break in will find themselves meeting armed police.
If the stories I've heard about the changes to security are correct, then the next Palestinian Action Peaceful Protest will have political level repercussions.
You can tell that things are bad when Brixham59 come out to bat and smear as much as possible. Noone will listen to Starmer's solution(s) because he is the problem.
The fear for Labour is that any and every solution is even worse... which seems highly likely.
John Rentoul @JohnRentoul · 1h This is the end game. If Labour comes 3rd in Gorton & Denton by-election in 18 days, as seems likely, that will trigger the final moves
Tory HQ is rejoicing. They think Labour will not recover from Starmer’s downfall, that whoever comes next will bring chaos and that the public won’t forgive them. They now see a route back to government in one term, a thought that would have been ridiculous only a few weeks ago.
Hearing Andrew Marr thinks Starmer will be resigning…
Stop press! I think he'll resign too.
Here's a little bit of whataboutery for Reform fans. Nick Candy, Reform Treasurer and friend of Nigel Nice and Richard Tidy remained pals with Jeff and Ghis after the first conviction. Omm!
It’s laughable that they’re making out as if McSweeney was an electoral genus .
You couldn’t fail to beat the Tories in 2024 and since then his Reform chasing has seen Labours poll ratings implode.
The main things they had to do were not scare floating voters and target the most winnable seats. The first ensured the win, the second made it a big one. Easy? Perhaps. But big Labour majorities aren't common, more common is snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, so I think GE24 stands as a genuine political achievement for the team who delivered it.
John Rentoul @JohnRentoul · 1h This is the end game. If Labour comes 3rd in Gorton & Denton by-election in 18 days, as seems likely, that will trigger the final moves
Says the pundit who declared Emily Thornberry a shoo-in for Deputy Leader when Rayner resigned.
Tory HQ is rejoicing. They think Labour will not recover from Starmer’s downfall, that whoever comes next will bring chaos and that the public won’t forgive them. They now see a route back to government in one term, a thought that would have been ridiculous only a few weeks ago.
As Morgan McSweeney resigns - here's some basic politics for any member of the Labour Party: 1/ We cannot have a leadership contest now. Why? Because the bond market is a "daily referendum on UK political stability"...the right wing press baying for Keir to resign know this
2/ The rat pack of podcasters and YouTubers will have a field day stoking up chaos... a doom loop of bad headlines and soaring bond yields. Therefore Keir Starmer has to remain PM. Let's have a clear report from the ISC - and it should not be difficult to get to the point...
4/ At this moment in history - with an Iran strike possible, an incipient Russian siloviki feud, Ukraine, Greenland... Britain has to have a stable government with parliamentary backing ...
John Rentoul @JohnRentoul · 1h This is the end game. If Labour comes 3rd in Gorton & Denton by-election in 18 days, as seems likely, that will trigger the final moves
‘Twas ever thus
As a Labour former special adviser said, when breaking the news of McSweeney’s resignation to me, Starmer gives the impression when things go wrong that it is “always someone else’s fault”.
Tory HQ is rejoicing. They think Labour will not recover from Starmer’s downfall, that whoever comes next will bring chaos and that the public won’t forgive them. They now see a route back to government in one term, a thought that would have been ridiculous only a few weeks ago.
That building on the King’s Cross Road looks terrible in the supplied photo but it’s not completely out of place: it’s essentially a “response” to the old Camden Town Hall building down the road.
Betfair has a market on the quarter when Starmer will be replaced (so be careful to factor in time for a leadership election and/or coronation). Currently:-
When will Keir Starmer be replaced as Labour Party leader? We will settle this market on the date the Labour Party officially announce their new Permanent Party Leader after Keir Starmer. Temporary/interim leaders do not count. If a temporary/interim leader is appointed we will wait until the date of the announcement of the Permanent Leader before settling. This market will be void if the Party Leader dies while in office. If the Party Leader is unable to fulfil his/her role due to health reasons and is therefore permanently replaced this market will be void https://www.betfair.com/exchange/plus/politics/market/1.253645106
Jan-Mar 8.6 Apr-Jun 3.75 Jul-Sep 2.62 Oct-Dec 7.4 2027 or later 3.25
Tory HQ is rejoicing. They think Labour will not recover from Starmer’s downfall, that whoever comes next will bring chaos and that the public won’t forgive them. They now see a route back to government in one term, a thought that would have been ridiculous only a few weeks ago.
Comments
https://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/news/pharma-giant-cancels-move-into-ahmms-1-billion-research-centre
So the chances of any accountability there are pretty low I think.
The longlist is what it's been all along- Rayner, Lammy, Cooper, Mahmood, Reeves. Ed Miliband at a stretch. Streeting at a bigger stretch. As things stand, the irresistible force to remove Starmer is meeting the immovable object of needing to replace him with someone available.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ng1P7cvv8x0
Defeat for Liverpool this afternoon, and there’s a definite gap opening up between Liverpool and Champions League football. And Liverpools misfiring midfield and defence just can’t contain Man City direct - wildcatting long balls today.
https://x.com/zelenskyyua/status/2020500198531686579
We probably won’t get to know much of the detail, but congratulations to everyone involved.
Setting aside whether you agree with them ideologically or policy wise or not: May, Truss, Sunak, Starmer were all in their own way pretty crap at politics and ineffective as leaders. And Boris, while great at playing politics, was much less so at governing.
We have to go back 10 years or more for someone who isn't going to go down in going to go down in history as a bottom quartile Prime Minister.
I'm not sure if Starmer limps on or not for now. But there's a zero percent chance he fights the next election as leader.
- New Labour. The group of the Blairites. Has money and influence. Preferred candidate: Streeting
- Blue Labour. The group of the Glasmanites. Has influence but no money. Preferred candidate: Mahmood
- Old Labour. the group of the progressive left, the soft left and the Corbynites. Has the soul of the party. Preferred candidate: Rayner
The Blairites will generate money, quotes, and polling that says what they want it to like crazy, because they are rich. Because of this I assume Streeting will make it to the top two. Blue Labour has influence beyond its support and won't get its candidate into the top two, so Mahmood will make a good run but inevitably falter. Rayner will get to the top two despite her manifest problems.His main policy feature is the u-turn, and his name sounds just like skier
Complete fraud.
I did so once (the entirety of his mad Greenland address to the NATO leaders) - which to the BBC's credit they broadcast in full.
Even Leon thought that was nuts.
- They thought they'd won the argument. But they didn't even make an argument other than "change".
- They concentrated so much on winning the election they forgot to concentrate on how Government works.
- They don't know what the problems are and show little sign of learning.
- Starmer enjoys the foreign aspects of the job but has no idea how the domestic aspects of the job works. Blair handled this by giving domestic stuff to Brown, who could handle it. Starmer hasn't really got a Brown except for Reeves and I don't think she can.
Oh damn, I hate thishttps://x.com/heyhassan/status/2020503171865710852?s=20
You ignored the last bit too. All somewhat creepy.
Since then, it's just been one of my nicknames for him
Just north of the Lizzie Line station at Canary Wharf.
https://www.kadans.com/properties/one-north-quay/
Time for him to go.
BBC long-standing show "Ski Sunday"
Our PM is called "Sir Keir."
Oh, and it just happens to be the first Sunday of Milan-Cortina 2026.
It’s both paradoxical yet entirely obvious: the more level the playing field gets, the fiercest and unhealthiest the competition will be. Because this is politics, what this means is that the right people will, over time, become less likely to get picked, as the ones getting ahead will, more often than not, be the sort of people happy to entirely debase themselves for professional advancement.
https://youngvulgarian.substack.com/p/politics-is-bad-becausepoliticians
And yes, that includes Starmer's role in Corbyn's shadow cabinet just as much as Truss climbing the greasy pole by saying whatever her immediate boss wanted her to say
I'm finding it hard to think of counter examples, but Chamberlain had a lot of executive experience, and doesn't rate highly amongst PM.
Maggie? Not much experience there.
Bit of a mixed bag, isn't it?
https://x.com/Peston/status/2020523156755169733
Lots of rumours - not substantiated -that Louise Casey will be the PM’s new chief of staff, because in recent months “she has been his answer to pretty much every crisis” and “he would be crazy not to appoint a woman and break up the boys club”
I suspect it’s probably being done in conjunction with established arms industry suppliers, licensing the Ukranian IP for whatever weapons they’re making. Their facilities and distribution are already very well guarded, and any idiots trying to break in will find themselves meeting armed police.
You couldn’t fail to beat the Tories in 2024 and since then his Reform chasing has seen Labours poll ratings implode.
If he hangs on until 2028, the new leader wouldn't actually need to do anything. They would be immediately in election campaign mode - policy announcements but little time for anything meaningful to be implemented. I think that scenario would have favoured the likes of Raynor who are politically popular and would help win back some Green support. Gives Labour a better chance for a more respectable election outcome, if not winning.
If he is ousted this year, that calculation changes. You need someone who is ready to govern on day one. Or at least have a decent go at doing a better job of it than Starmer has. I don't think Raynor fits the bill. I would suggest Streeting (centrist candidate) or Miliband (left candidate) would be more suitable in the circumstances.
Starmer hopes to “update the country” tomorrow about how he and his officials are “addressing the issues” that flow from the “Mandelson revelations”
The government isn’t run as well as that.
Perhaps the moment is approaching for him to take a bow?
Blocking Burnham is, whatever was said at the time, looking like a masterstroke.
- The creation of, and expansion of the Building Safety Regulator, leading to large delays as it cannot process the volume of work
- The large amount of bureaucracy involved in building houses or housing
- New regulations required to hit net zero, resulting in expensive houses with small windows
- New regulations required to improve safety, even when not sane (eg restrict window opening and install bars to prevent people sitting on sills)
- Labour attempts to speed things up by removing asthetics being considered has speeded up planning, but Gresham's law works for housing as well and some of the new builds look ugh.
In fairness I don't know if this is a Starmer thing or a Sunak thing, but at the very least Starmer isn't making things better and Rayner shat the bed on this. Tom Harwood used to be good on this until he became radicalised and ranting about unimportant things, and CreateStreets remains good.https://x.com/createstreets
Pour Encourge Les Autres.
His source was Peter Mandel oh
Noone will listen to Starmer's solution(s) because he is the problem.
The fear for Labour is that any and every solution is even worse... which seems highly likely.
John Rentoul
@JohnRentoul
·
1h
This is the end game. If Labour comes 3rd in Gorton & Denton by-election in 18 days, as seems likely, that will trigger the final moves
Farage, Davey, Fynn, Plaid leaders all made to camera comments, miss 3 day a week has sent a tweet via a staffer
@alexwickham
Tory HQ is rejoicing. They think Labour will not recover from Starmer’s downfall, that whoever comes next will bring chaos and that the public won’t forgive them. They now see a route back to government in one term, a thought that would have been ridiculous only a few weeks ago.
https://x.com/alexwickham/status/2020541676733792767
Here's a little bit of whataboutery for Reform fans. Nick Candy, Reform Treasurer and friend of Nigel Nice and Richard Tidy remained pals with Jeff and Ghis after the first conviction. Omm!
https://searchlightmagazine.com/2026/02/reform-treasurer-kept-contact-with-epstein-after-sex-conviction/
They don’t actually need to be in the Commons. Could be made Lord if needs be.
Thoughts anyone?
@paulmasonnews
As Morgan McSweeney resigns - here's some basic politics for any member of the Labour Party: 1/ We cannot have a leadership contest now. Why? Because the bond market is a "daily referendum on UK political stability"...the right wing press baying for Keir to resign know this
Paul Mason
@paulmasonnews
2/ The rat pack of podcasters and YouTubers will have a field day stoking up chaos... a doom loop of bad headlines and soaring bond yields. Therefore Keir Starmer has to remain PM. Let's have a clear report from the ISC - and it should not be difficult to get to the point...
Paul Mason
@paulmasonnews
4/ At this moment in history - with an Iran strike possible, an incipient Russian siloviki feud, Ukraine, Greenland... Britain has to have a stable government with parliamentary backing ...
https://x.com/paulmasonnews/status/2020515405811339360
As a Labour former special adviser said, when breaking the news of McSweeney’s resignation to me, Starmer gives the impression when things go wrong that it is “always someone else’s fault”.
https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/keir-starmer-morgan-mcsweeney-prime-minister-b2916249.html?test_group=lighteradlayout
This rarely goes well.
Let's try one for a bit of fun:
"I'm hearing from contacts close to the Conservative Party Kemi Badenoch is going to resign this week".
There, easy, isn't it?
When will Keir Starmer be replaced as Labour Party leader? We will settle this market on the date the Labour Party officially announce their new Permanent Party Leader after Keir Starmer. Temporary/interim leaders do not count. If a temporary/interim leader is appointed we will wait until the date of the announcement of the Permanent Leader before settling. This market will be void if the Party Leader dies while in office. If the Party Leader is unable to fulfil his/her role due to health reasons and is therefore permanently replaced this market will be void
https://www.betfair.com/exchange/plus/politics/market/1.253645106
Jan-Mar 8.6
Apr-Jun 3.75
Jul-Sep 2.62
Oct-Dec 7.4
2027 or later 3.25
I don't believe many Tories in Tory HQ have come to terms with the fact they lost GE24.
Required qualifications: Not being Mandy