2020 Labour Leadership Election

[Silent Hunter]

Why isn't Watson running?

Because he retired from politics this election?

He also quit as Deputy Leader, so if Corbyn resigns before a new leader is in place, the Shadow Cabinet and NEC will pick the interim leader. They're both very much under Corbynite control now.

[Silent Hunter]

Yet Blair won...

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Anyway, who wants to be Neil Kinnock here? After a thumping like this, Labour is very unlikely to get back in one go.

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Would Labour have won three terms with John Smith though?

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Ruth Smeeth is Jewish and pro-Israel. She was was subjected to a huge amount of abuse as a result.

[Silent Hunter]

Why no mention of London mayor Sadiq Khan?

You need to be an MP to run for leadership. But if he seriously wants the position, I'm sure he has an ally or two in a safe labour seat willing to start an immediate by-election for him. If Corbyn allows the party time to reflect, than Khan has more time to make the moves to rejoin parliament. He probably easily passes all the other requirements since a serious chunk of London would be behind his candidacy, and there's more than enough Unions and party machinery there. Him joining would be a case of doing all the secondary steps first, and then running for a Westminster seat with the understanding that he's an immediate candidate from day one.

Khan however has two downsides behind the  obvious 'not being a MP.' Number one, hes a man. Number two though is more  important. Selecting Khan would send a clear signal that the north would remain on Labour's backburner. Khan can have a 'forwards' (not looking back ideologically but finding something new) style vision that reinvents Labour for the 2020s, but his vision is all about the Global Cities and their commuters. Ideally, rebuilt Labour's vision has a place for their northern communities alongside the expanding internationalists who want to get away from SNP/Tory nationalism.

Downside 3 for Khan is he's a practising Muslim. Islamophobia is pretty prevalent in some form in the white working class and some of his pre-MP actions as a solicitor are the sort of thing that would be misrepresented - they're not exactly Corbyn stuff, but the right-wing media will take what they can get.

Downside 4 is that I doubt Momentum would like him for his dislike of Corbyn,

Downside 5 is that his mayoralty has seen some fairly big issues at Transport for London and a spate of knife crime.

[Silent Hunter]

Are there no women between Blair and Corbyn ideologically? I don't really like to bring up US politics in UK topics, but who is your Amy Klobuchar? That seems to be the way to go, with just a hint more leftism.

From the soft left ("between Blair and Corbyn," though obviously closer to the latter), Emily Thornberry. I'd argue she's vastly improved since her White Van Man gaffe, & is probably one of Labour's best media performers, though I'm not sure how she'd go down in Labour's traditional Northern seats.

Arguably too associated with Corbyn now.

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Also, we have the weekly Prime Minster's Questions. It's going to be very strange on Wednesday if Corbyn is still there.

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Nobody is realistically talking about Corbyn staying on for a few years anyway (FWIW I agree with Al about that being totally impractical) Just a couple of months; IMO letting him "own" both ECHR and our exit from the EU, allowing a new leader to start with a fresh slate, is a sensible idea.

Besides, the party doesn't have a deputy at the moment - if he *did* resign today who would take over?

Shadow Cabinet and NEC would pick an interim leader pending a leadership election.

As for ECHR, while I don't think it can levy fines directly unless Labour ignored its recommendations, wouldn't it leave Labour vulnerable to some very expensive lawsuits?

[Silent Hunter]

Khan might face a real challenge keeping the mayoralty in London. His stewardship of TfL hasn't been brilliant, with the Crossrail project now vastly late.

[Silent Hunter]

Unfortunately, the problem was very much the man.

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As someone who once appeared in a vox pop on GMTV and misidentified Peter Mandelson as a newsreader, most politicians aren't very well recognised outside the really big people.

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Problem Sir Keir will have is dealing with the rest of the Corbynites.

Also, wouldn't he be the first Labour leader to have a K?

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If I had a vote he'd have it with a moment's hesitation. I don't though and I suspect people like not me not being able to vote for him might be his achilles heel.

In any case, he has my endorsement.

Do they not have the £3 supporters thing this time?