Keir Starmer

J

John Craven's Newsround

Well-known member
So, it looks like Labour have finally elected a leader with some moral fibre, intelligence and competence who could finally get them back in power after those clowns Miliband and Corbyn made the party completely unelectable.

How do the resident Corbynistas feel about the long overdue demise of the poisonous cult of Corbyn - is Sir Keir just a "Red Tory" or are they happy that the Labour party is seemingly on the road to recovery with a sensible, more centrist leader ?

Personally I welcome a Labour leader who has some common sense, real life experience, a grip of relevant detail and can provide a credible opposition
 
For me it's a good move and it would seem that the majority of the Labour membership think so too as 56% voted for Starmer.
Long Bailey being elected as leader would have lead to more wasted years playing student politics rather than making an electable party that ordinary people can vote for. Starmer, so far, looks like a statesman and is a master of detail. What a contrast with Johnson. But it is only a beginning and he has far more to do to make people trust Labour again. It is worth remebering that Blair is the only Labour politician to win a GE in almost 50 years, before that only Wilson won for Labour (apart from 1945).
I was very pleased with the way that Starmer quickly sacked RLB, effectively killing two birds with one stone. Serious about stamping on anti-semitism and removing a Corbynite from the front bench. So far so good for me but they have a lot to do. Is there enough talent in the party to make a credible front-bench team?
Personally I would like to see Andy Burnham back in Westminster, he is a very talented politician who would be a great asset to the PLP.
 
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Starmer looks the part. Sharp suited barrister, almost Tony Blair mark two. And without doubt he is more electable than Corbyn. But I've said it before on here, it's all well and good looking impressive at PMQ's. He's a barrister so you'd expect that.
It's how he modernises the Labour party and how he deals with the hard left in the party. They haven't gone away, they're just in the next room. Proof of that has been the protests following the sacking of Long Bailey. I'll reserve judgement on Starmer for the time being until I see how he deals with that and what his policies are.
 
He's right to try and stamp out anti-semitism as it hangs around Labour's neck like a noose. The reaction to RLB's sacking though shows the extent of the splits in his party. Not something that's going away any time soon.

www.express.co.uk

Keir Starmer on the spot as BBC host points out Long-Bailey issue

KEIR STARMER faced an intense grilling from BBC host Nick Robinson as he was questioned on his decision to sack Rebecca Long-Bailey despite pledges to keep the Labour Party "united."
www.express.co.uk www.express.co.uk
 
It's early days but he definitely seems to be the best on offer. I would totally disagree with the OP about Milliband & Corbyn - they are certainly not clowns and have always and still are very good politicians with a moral fibre missing from the majority of MPs. The problem was they were never leaders and had no connection with the electorate.
The actions of Long Bailey were IMO far from sackable but he just wanted to make a statement. As mentioned above trying to persuade Andy Burnham back onto the front bench may be a way of getting a bit more red into the shadow cabinet. He's an excellent man and very popular.
I very much doubt Boris will be Tory leader when the next election comes round but Starmer certainly seems the best vote winner since Blair.
 
I like Starmer the only problem is his MPs to hold senior roles to choose from are poor and there is nothing he can do about that until another general election.
 
You got to laugh at the Tory boys.

On realising they actually like Starmer they claim him as their own "red Tory". How cringeworthy.

Don't worry about Kier Starmer. Worry about your own wild haired buffoon and his "snouts in the trough" Old Etonian disciples. LOL.
 
Whatever you think of Starmer, good bad or indifferent, it's going to be a long time before we see if he's good enough to be PM. It may well be that by then Johnson is no longer PM. As the saying goes, a week is a long time in politics. So that makes four and a half years an eternity away.
 
Starmer will have to do a lot more than just sack RLB to make Labour a credible candidate for government. However he has made a better start than I expected. Inevitably there will be a showdown with the left of the party, if he acts as assertively and decisively as he did with RLB then it looks promising. Surely the left will come to understand that they need to be disciplined in order to gain power - there is no point in being right about everything if you can't change anything (btw personally I don't believe that they are right). Anyway if and when the confrontation happens he has to be seen to defeat the left in the same way that both Kinnock and Blair did.
Rusty is correct in that things will look very different in 4 years time (I think the GE is in May 2024). But that gives plenty of time for Starmer to gain some momentum, or even defeat some momentum!
 
Said it before, it's all cyclical with very few govts getting more than two terms in office. There's usually always some major incident which will cause a government to fall. This time the Conservatives got in for a third time pretty much on Brexit alone and Corbyns failure to have any sort of commitment one way or the other. And now Covid has come along and the the Govt haven't done a very good job of handling it, not that I think any other govt would have done any better. But even so soon into this period of govt, because of this pandemic, I would reckon it's a near enough certainty that Labour will get in next time. Provided we are out of the EU all the traditional Labour seats of the north will revert back to them. Starmer has probably got an easy ride. He has to keep the left of the party in check and then just allow this govt to implode, which because of this pandemic and the fall out from it which is inevitable and he'll coast into no 10.
Just to add that's not any great insight into politics, it's just stating the obvious.
 
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Do Labour have a defence policy worthy of protecting this country or are they a party of surrender muppets?
 
Trammo said:
Do Labour have a defence policy worthy of protecting this country or are they a party of surrender muppets?
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That's why I'm waiting to see what his policies are Trammo. Yes he looks good in his sharp suits and speaks very well. I need to see more substance before I make up my mind.
 
Starmer may yet prove to be the man as a centrist Labour is the only viable alternative,as it was for Wilson,Callaghan and Blair.
If only the idiot I Iive with would listen to some common sense (smiley)
 
It seems Bullshit Boris(eg we`ll have the greatest test track and trace system in the world) has by any measure on the Covid19 stats presided over the worst results of any comparable country in the world especially if you look at England rather than the UK.

Boris Johnson was incredibly fortunate to have the least electable opposition leader and front bench in living memory contesting the last election.He certainly won`t have that kind of god given electoral advantage against Keir Starmer next time though he may well not last that long as Tory leader unless his performance as PM rapidly improves.One wonders whether his handling of Brexit will end up as badly as his handling of the present pandemic.
 
KS has got his work cut out. No major party has ever increased their number of MPs by over 60%, which is what Labour would need to do to win in 2024.
 
tangerinenotorange said:
KS has got his work cut out. No major party has ever increased their number of MPs by over 60%, which is what Labour would need to do to win in 2024.
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He will only need to increase Labour MPs by around 60 (which is around 30 %) to form a government with support of other centre/left parties.
 
20togo said:
Said it before, it's all cyclical with very few govts getting more than two terms in office. There's usually always some major incident which will cause a government to fall. This time the Conservatives got in for a third time pretty much on Brexit alone and Corbyns failure to have any sort of commitment one way or the other. And now Covid has come along and the the Govt haven't done a very good job of handling it, not that I think any other govt would have done any better. But even so soon into this period of govt, because of this pandemic, I would reckon it's a near enough certainty that Labour will get in next time. Provided we are out of the EU all the traditional Labour seats of the north will revert back to them. Starmer has probably got an easy ride. He has to keep the left of the party in check and then just allow this govt to implode, which because of this pandemic and the fall out from it which is inevitable and he'll coast into no 10.
Just to add that's not any great insight into politics, it's just stating the obvious.
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Boris has only been PM for six months and already there have been incidents that in days gone by would have led to calls for his resignation or that of the people around him. Politics is in such a state that scandalous behaviour is talked about for a week or two then something else comes along and so the cycle restarts.

Sit tight and the media and public moves on then just before the GE sling some mud at Labour and sneak another 5 years.
 
Wizaard said:
Boris has only been PM for six months and already there have been incidents that in days gone by would have led to calls for his resignation or that of the people around him. Politics is in such a state that scandalous behaviour is talked about for a week or two then something else comes along and so the cycle restarts.

Sit tight and the media and public moves on then just before the GE sling some mud at Labour and sneak another 5 years.
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The last election was all about basically two issues and two issues only. So it was pretty unique because of that. General run of the mill daily politics played little or no part. Brexit and Corbyn. The country wanted one but not the other. That's it in a nutshell. The next election should and will bring a lot more policy into play.
 
20togo said:
The last election was all about basically two issues and two issues only. So it was pretty unique because of that. General run of the mill daily politics played little or no part. Brexit and Corbyn. The country wanted one but not the other. That's it in a nutshell. The next election should and will bring a lot more policy into play.
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Aren't you the man who doesn't do politics? 😀
 
Starmer needs time. As some on here are only too keen to point out, it's a long time until the next GE.
There is loads on his plate: winning over the Party internally, getting full control of the Party's Byzantine power structure (he does currently command a small majority on the NEC) and defeating the anti-Semites. He also needs to respond to whichever no-deal Brexit sh*t-hole Johnson lands us in. These things will happen but it doesn't have to happen quickly. Johnson and Cummings have the shovel in their mits. Let's see how big a hole they can dig before Labour are called to put something to the electorate.
 
1966_and_all_that said:
Starmer needs time. As some on here are only too keen to point out, it's a long time until the next GE.
There is loads on his plate: winning over the Party internally, getting full control of the Party's Byzantine power structure (he does currently command a small majority on the NEC) and defeating the anti-Semites. He also needs to respond to whichever no-deal Brexit sh*t-hole Johnson lands us in. These things will happen but it doesn't have to happen quickly. Johnson and Cummings have the shovel in their mits. Let's see how big a hole they can dig before Labour are called to put something to the electorate.
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He needs to take the line that the public voted to set us free from unelected bureaucrats, and we've got Dominic Cummings the de facto Prime Minister, with all the power and no accountability.
 
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