next labour leader
- Thread starter sun_tzu
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To me his statement suggests that whatever it is, it isn't something that involves any serious or criminal wrongdoing because he seems to be implying that he is unhappy about the intrusion. The gay thing seems like a possibility, or perhaps he has some baggage involving previous relationships with women.
bishblaize said:
Yep. Maybe they should get over those things too.
I don't think previous drug use would do any real damage.
George Osborne and Boris Johnson have a history of cocaine use and even Cameron refuses to deny that he has used it in the past, sticking to the line that politicians deserve to have a private life before politics.
From a post on another board:
Guess we will see soon enough then
Bit of dealing? It did occur to me afterwards that those pictures of George Osborne with a hooker and a line of chop (alledgedly) didnt cause many waves, and he's looking to get support from a far more conservative bit of the country.
Maybe somebody's managed to get hold of a video of him and a buddy spit roasting a girl in Ibiza?
My first instinct is that it's a tactical move based on a combination of factors:
- not enough support in party to win
- may be a poisoned chalice if Labour aren't going to win in 2020
- Mayor of London may be a better stepping stone (see Boris)
- not enough support in party to win
- may be a poisoned chalice if Labour aren't going to win in 2020
- Mayor of London may be a better stepping stone (see Boris)
My thought too. Can't see him not being a leader at some point considering the poor alternative options. I'd guess Labour are expecting to lose next time round.
I dont really see why he'd stand in the first place. All of that was the same 3 days ago.
I wonder if it has anything to do with his dad who died in pretty suspicious circumstances in Nigeria?
Would be silly of him to think that wouldn't be dug up but who knows with politicians.
None of these rumours/guesses mentioned ought to preclude him from running for the leadership. If an individual is about to accuse him of wrongdoing then matters could become complicated, but it all rather depends.
I'd have supposed that Shadow Business Secretary would have represented a big enough target for scandal, particularly with the polls pointing to a Labour government, so why was this (whatever it is) kept under wraps durign the campaign?
If the story turns out to be a minor one, Ummana either misjudged his support or came to the conclusion that now is not the time.
I'd have supposed that Shadow Business Secretary would have represented a big enough target for scandal, particularly with the polls pointing to a Labour government, so why was this (whatever it is) kept under wraps durign the campaign?
If the story turns out to be a minor one, Ummana either misjudged his support or came to the conclusion that now is not the time.
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Or, he really DOES have some skeletons, the press don't know those yet and he jumped the gun 
Who knows
Who knows
Very disappointed that Chukka as pulled out of the leadership challenge. Wouldn't be surprised if he was gay. A lot of those politicians live a lie.
*inappropriate comment removed*
*inappropriate comment removed*
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He certainly has support in the PLP and there's no reason to assume he would have at least a fighting chance amongst Labour members, so I dont think that can be an issue.
It was a bit of an undignified scramble in the aftermath of Ed's resignation, it makes you wonder if there are any others who now regret putting their name forward. Labour should have had someone like John McDonnell (who spoke well during the 2010 leadership race from what i can recall) steady the ship for 6-12 months, and use the summer and Autumn conference to determine policy direction.
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Such would have been my estimate also; the unions likely aren't his biggest fans however he'd have known that from the outset. Three days is a long time in politics.
A timely email
I agree, they should have done what the Tories did in 2005, steady the ship (keeping Howard in their case) then use the autumn conference as a sort of hustings-cum-policy debate, choosing the leader in the winter based on the outcome of that debate. Making people choose before the annual conference is an awful idea as far as I'm concerned.
Fecking hell, field looks even weaker now. Just wait for Hunt to stand and get elected by all the tories that sign up to vote.
Kind of hope Keir Starmer randomly decides to stand despite only being an MP for a week, would at least make things a little more interesting.
Kind of hope Keir Starmer randomly decides to stand despite only being an MP for a week, would at least make things a little more interesting.
Chuka can't.
a tip of the cap to you sir.
chuka, Johnson and jarvis not standing... Arguably three of the strongest candidates
Will be interesting to see who the labour right / centrist members back now as Cooper and burnhams suppoerseem very much rooted in the left camp
Will be interesting to see who the labour right / centrist members back now as Cooper and burnhams suppoerseem very much rooted in the left camp
Kendall's pushing very hard for it by the looks of it, doing some proper Ed-bashing in this new interview - http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/may/15/liz-kendall-labour-leadership-interview
I'm open to being won over still but I'm just not sure I want Cooper or Burnham as leader, I think the Tories would welcome either with open arms. There's even talk of it being potentially a two-stage contest with a re-election contest in 2018! Essentially because Labour are so bad at sticking the knife into people they don't want anymore, they have to make it a formalised part of the process. Doesn't say a lot for the confidence in the field. Tories being in power for another decade is a mightily depressing thought.
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I think a female leader would make flashman look even more of a bully in the commons
The biggest drawback to Yvette Cooper though is her husband... Surely a toxic brand and it would hardly draw a line under the perceived economic incompetence of the last labour government
Very disappointed with Ummuna's withdrawal. Burnham or Cooper will only lead to another (increased) Conservative majority. The last thing that the Labour party needed was Gordon Brown puppets that signify economic failure, yet it seems likely that this will be the case, to the delight of the the Conservative cabinet and Rupert Murdoch's news group. It's easy pickings.
Liz Kendall, if she is prepared to take the shift towards the centre ground, should be looking to take advantage of the support that Ummuna may have had.
Liz Kendall, if she is prepared to take the shift towards the centre ground, should be looking to take advantage of the support that Ummuna may have had.
Perhaps without chuka in the race jarvis could be made to reconsider... Though given his reasons for not running before it would be completely understandable if he decided not to.
Kier starma has shortened a lot in the odds but quite possibly too soon for him
Kier starma has shortened a lot in the odds but quite possibly too soon for him
He's been asked again from what I've read but hasn't changed his mind, fair enough on his part. The Starmer calls show how desperate we've got but he'd certainly cause a bit of a stir, though I doubt he even knows 35 MPs yet, let alone can get them to nominate him. Burnham and Cooper seem to have much the upper hand in the organisational stakes, both assembling very good teams around them, will have to see if Kendall can go the distance with them. There's a first semi debate at 12:30pm if anyone's interested, available to stream on the Progress website.
Liz Kendall already endorsing Tories myths about the economy to slag off Cooper and Burnham.
Tory myths that the electorate have bought into, rightly or wrongly. Labour need to change the perception of economic destabilisers if they want any chance of getting into power.
Cooper and Burnham will simply repeat the same failed rhetoric that lost Labour the last election, only to lose again.
Interestingly, Burnham just said Labour should own up that they let the deficit get too high in the middle of the decade. Pivot to the centre? Yvette still pushing the defence argument though.
If he has then good on him. The last thing Labour need is for them to be having the same argument about what they did in the 00s in 2018 or 2019. If they were to keep deflecting the blame then that's exactly what would happen. The Conservatives would focus upon their inability to own up to the truth, supported by the natural growth in the economy that we're likely to see this government, and the general public will just roll their eyes and vote Blue.
It's ridiculously easy to debunk - just parade the global recession numbers for the UK and compare with worldwide numbers.
'The permanent secretary to the Treasury, Sir Nicholas Macpherson, has argued that the 2008 financial crisis was “a banking crisis pure and simple”, contradicting Conservative claims that it was caused by Labour overspending'.
http://www.theguardian.com/business...-purely-a-banking-crisis-not-labour-overspend
None of the candidates are saying Labour caused the crash (nor should they), they're just doing the "fine, we shouldn't have been running a small deficit prior to the banking collapse" line.
Debate just now was interesting, had some clear points of difference between the candidates and it even occasionally got needley between them, without going full UKIP. Kendall at her best when talking about education but far less comfortable on the immigration subject, whereas Burnham had a bit more balance without ever excelling. I worry with Burnham they'd be going into 2020 essentially trying out Ed's arguments again with a better looking leader, though he was very keen to look friendly to business. Hunt was better than I thought he'd be with some good lines, but would still I think be a disaster of a choice as leader.
In other news, Jim Murphy has resigned as Scottish Labour leader despite winning a confidence vote.
Was the right and sensible thing to do.
That's the fine print that the electorate didn't read as opposed to the Labour screwed the economy headline. It's largely irrelevant as well (eg Ireland had a surplus before the banking crisis and many countries had bigger deficits). This bollox as got to be nailed once and for all else it's going to be played back in 5 years.
A horrible IRA supporting cnut.
Well, he could probably drum up support from the likes of Clare Short and Ken Livingston I suppose.