2020 Labour Leadership Election

[Antonio the Sixth]

Glad Starmer has won a clear mandate. I have my reservations about him, but he was clearly the best person for the job out of the three in contention.

That said. I was one of those who said in December that it was ridiculous to assume the Tories were destined to win in 2024. Now I'll issue the opposite warning and say that, while I'm cautiously optimistic about Starmer being a capable leader, that alone is not enough to assure victory for Labour (and neither is BoJo's blatant incompetence).

[brucejoel99]

Glad Starmer has won a clear mandate. I have my reservations about him, but he was clearly the best person for the job out of the three in contention.

That said. I was one of those who said in December that it was ridiculous to assume the Tories were destined to win in 2024. Now I'll issue the opposite warning and say that, while I'm cautiously optimistic about Starmer being a capable leader, that alone is not enough to assure victory for Labour (and neither is BoJo's blatant incompetence).

Yeah, anybody is gonna have a tough time going up against BoJo in a general election. It's a sad fact but people warm up to BoJo, & that's a very powerful thing in politics (though for all we know, COVID could end up flipping that in an instant).

If nothing else, I'm relieved RLB didn't win; Labour wouldn't have stood a chance with her. I personally wouldn't have ruled out Nandy, but it's all academic now. Good luck to Starmer; hopefully the party can indeed get behind him now.

[EastAnglianLefty]

Honestly, predicting 2024 is a bit of a waste of time. Three months ago plenty of people were claiming Brexit was still the key political issue, whereas it hasn't made the news headlines for over a fortnight now.

We don't know what the political issues will be in 2024, what the economy will look like, how Johnson will be regarded or even if he'll still be leader. One of the criticisms some have made of Starmer is that his pitch is basically that he just projects competence but is otherwise a blank slate (it's often expressed in terms of him having nice hair or looking good in a suit, but all that really does is tell you how hostile parts of the Corbynite left are to actually looking like you're trying to win.) I think it's an unfair criticism (even in the dialled down version) but not an entirely inaccurate one. However, basic competence is a helpful attribute to have when it's not clear what the terrain for the next election will be, because it means you're more likely to be able to adapt to changed circumstances.

[CumbrianLefty]

A new dawn has broken.

Has it not?

Careful, you will be saying "things can only get better" without irony next

[MABA 2020]

A new dawn has broken.

Has it not?

Careful, you will be saying "things can only get better" without irony next

When's the Portillo moment?

[CumbrianLefty]

Gardiner, Trickett and Lavery all leaving the SC (surely Burgon as well)

[MABA 2020]

Gardiner, Trickett and Lavery all leaving the SC (surely Burgon as well)

ahhhh of course, things really can only get better then

[DaWN]

https://twitter.com/PickardJE/status/1246828989278289920

[Lumine]

Interesting appointments! Not sure what Nandy is doing at Foreign though, surely she would have made more sense placed elsewhere?

[Blair]

Interesting appointments! Not sure what Nandy is doing at Foreign though, surely she would have made more sense placed elsewhere?

It's been largely missed but she did a fair bit about foreign policy in the campaign and was one the leading figures in Labour friends of Palestine; if you come to the conclusion she needs a top job it makes the most sense as she has no experience of a treasury role and is too hardline on immigration for the Home Office.

I expected her to get one of the 'we're not just in London' briefs like Transport or communities; but frankly the Foreign Office always seems to be where you put people who you want in your top team but who you don't want really being that important in terms of policy.

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

I liked Trickett tbh: one of the more underrated members of the Corbyn team.

Thomas-Symonds is one for the Labour history nerds: has done some autobiographies of people like Bevan and Attlee.

Ashworth will continue on with the Health portfolio. Hilariously, Nick "Talleyrand" Brown has yet again survived into a new regime; presumably he has an eight leaved clover or something.

[Blair]

I liked Trickett tbh: one of the more underrated members of the Corbyn team.

Thomas-Symonds is one for the Labour history nerds: has done some autobiographies of people like Bevan and Attlee.

Ashworth will continue on with the Health portfolio. Hilariously, Nick "Talleyrand" Brown has yet again survived into a new regime; presumably he has an eight leaved clover or something.

For people unaware Nick Brown was Chief Whip in the first year of the Blair Government (97-98) was sacked and moved sideways, brought back under the Brown Government, sacked by Miliband & then brought back by Corbyn in 2016 after JC sacked Rosie Winterton.

It's pretty remarkable when MPs who were junior ministers in the late brown era are seen as 'old timers' yet Brown has managed to get in the most patronage based job four times.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Nick Brown is basically the Giulio Andreotti of the Labour Party. He knows everything about everyone and outlasts them as well, although I don't believe that he's had a journalist shot.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

It's also worth noting that Nandy impressed a lot of people in the PLP and wider Labour Movement with her campaign, and is now very close to the leadership of the GMB who will be critical internal allies for Starmer in the months and years to come. Makes sense to reward both, really.

[CumbrianLefty]

Also she isn't exactly a raging #FBPEer, so her appointment offsets the lexiteers being dumped to a degree.

[urutzizu]

So, where does Annelise Dodds stand besides the nebulous "soft-left" label? Is she to the left of Reeves?

[Blair]

So, where does Annelise Dodds stand besides the nebulous "soft-left" label? Is she to the left of Reeves?

Yes; I don't know the dynamics of her selection (the easiest way of working out someones factional standing at the start of their career) but she's broadly seen as being more on the left than Reeves but she's certainly not part of the left within the party.

Basically she's non-factional & has experience through being on the Treasury Team since 2017 and performed very well- she's had a fair bit of media rounds recent because of Covid & she endorsed Keir very early on (it was obvious she was going to get a job because Keir did a big campaign event with her)

Some might think she isn't experienced or a big household name but frankly she's seen as skilled enough to handle the brief, she's a close ally of Starmer and she doesn't piss off the left in the way Reeves would have.

I remember reading this year that Cameron planned to replace Osborne with David Gauke back in 2016 when Gauke was a junior treasury minister; this would have been a big shock at the time but the rational was that Gauke A.) Knew his brief B.) Wouldn't use it as as stepping stone

[brucejoel99]

Interesting appointments! Not sure what Nandy is doing at Foreign though, surely she would have made more sense placed elsewhere?

I N T E R N A T I O N A L

T O W N S

[Leading Political Consultant Ma Anand Sheela]

So, where does Annelise Dodds stand besides the nebulous "soft-left" label? Is she to the left of Reeves?

Yes; I don't know the dynamics of her selection (the easiest way of working out someones factional standing at the start of their career) but she's broadly seen as being more on the left than Reeves but she's certainly not part of the left within the party.

AIUI, she was a well-respected MEP going up against a (left-wing) councillor who had only been in office for about a year. Don't think that really says anything about her.

[EastAnglianLefty]

I liked Trickett tbh: one of the more underrated members of the Corbyn team.

Yes, I figured if one of the core Corbynite ministers was going to survive (aside from Long Bailey) it would be him - if only because Burgon is a fool, Lavery is a crook and Gardiner's fondness for Narendra Modi is only the start of the problems with him. That said, he's seventy years old and most of his time in the Shadow Cabinet has been spent in back office roles. Starmer isn't going to support somebody who he doesn't trust to one of those and there's no reason to prefer him in one of the substantive portfolios to a junior shadow minister with a longer career ahead of them.

[Blair]

I liked Trickett tbh: one of the more underrated members of the Corbyn team.

Yes, I figured if one of the core Corbynite ministers was going to survive (aside from Long Bailey) it would be him - if only because Burgon is a fool, Lavery is a crook and Gardiner's fondness for Narendra Modi is only the start of the problems with him. That said, he's seventy years old and most of his time in the Shadow Cabinet has been spent in back office roles. Starmer isn't going to support somebody who he doesn't trust to one of those and there's no reason to prefer him in one of the substantive portfolios to a junior shadow minister with a longer career ahead of them.

The thing that was missed from these three is that Starmer had the biggest falling outs with them over Brexit; although with Trickett always handled it a lot better than Lavery and Gardiner who were pretty poor at hiding their disdain for Starmer (a favour that was happily returned). The stuff below no doubt didn't help though

https://www.politicshome.com/news/article/jon-trickett-hits-out-at-undemocratic-keir-starmer-amid-leadership-donations-row

The interesting thing to watch is A.) The role Long-Bailey gets B.) What the Corbyn friendly/SGC intake from 2017 & 2019 get in the junior roles.

[Leading Political Consultant Ma Anand Sheela]

The interesting thing to watch is A.) The role Long-Bailey gets B.) What the Corbyn friendly/SGC intake from 2017 & 2019 get in the junior roles.

If I were Starmer, I would start offering the surprisingly large number of them who didn't nominate Burgon in the deputy contest jobs and see who bites.

[PSOL]

Here lies the Labour Party of the UK, who through trying to get rid of the Blair disease succumbed from a multi-pronged assault by Capital. (1900–2020)

[Antonio the Sixth]

Here lies the Labour Party of the UK, who through trying to get rid of the Blair disease succumbed from a multi-pronged assault by Capital. (1900–2020)

oh come on

[PSOL]

Here lies the Labour Party of the UK, who through trying to get rid of the Blair disease succumbed from a multi-pronged assault by Capital. (1900–2020)

oh come on

One can not deny the truth when a knighted multimillionaire is running the show.