2020 Labour Leadership Election

[EastAnglianLefty]

A Labour friend made the following list:

1) Nandy
2) thornberry
3) starmer
4) embrace the destruction of all life on earth
5) lewis / phillips
6) resign membership
7) RLB
Thanos
9) lavery

Discuss with maps.

Considering the resignation of one's membership to be worse than the destruction of all life on Earth, but slightly better than the destruction of half the population of the universe, is very Labour. Possibly the only thing that could make it more Labour would be then resigning your membership in the following 12 months.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

https://twitter.com/lewis_goodall/status/1214978254471385091

[Gass3268]

https://twitter.com/lewis_goodall/status/1214974740709949442?s=20

[Grand Wizard Lizard of the Klan]

https://twitter.com/lewis_goodall/status/1214978254471385091

Ugh, disgusting.

[Blair]

Have to say, slightly surprised that McDonnell is backing the dismal Burgon for deputy.

He's a factional man first and foremost and while Rayner might be a friend of RLB's she is not part of the cadre.

There's been an interesting battle between McDonnell the wannabe Shadow Chancellor (who backed remain, apologised for AS, got rid of Karie Murphy & tried to stop a December election) and McDonnell the old SCG Chair (begged JC to stay in 2016, almost split the PLP in the same summer & who has picked RLB over the much more qualified Rayner)

I assume the shift can be tracked back to 2017 when he presumably realised he actually had a chance of getting a socialist government & now that dream is dead it's back to SCG chair.

[CumbrianLefty]

Well, one of those points at least may be debatable if you believe the seemingly well sourced accounts that Rayner didn't actually *want* to stand for leader (to the regret of myself and several others) or not on this occasion at least.

And its not hard to think of reasons why that might be the case tbh.

[urutzizu]

Keir Starmer (60), Rebecca Long Bailey (27), Jess Philips (25) and Lisa Nandy (23) have all got the necessary Nominations for the first stage. Thornberry looks unlikely (9). Richard Burgon is four short in the Deputy ballot. Some 32% of MPs have not yet nominated.

Also RLB is very heavy with the 2019 intake, less with the 2017 intake. Shows you how much control in the Party shifted.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Starmer - 63
Long Bailey - 26
Nandy - 24
Phillips - 22
---
Thornberry - 9
Lewis - 4

Rayner - 71
Murray - 29
---
Burgon - 18
Allin Khan - 16
Butler - 14

[DaWN]

Burgon has apparently directed MPs to support other candidates once he reaches the threshold - to 'broaden the debate' if you will.

I mean, obviously he's an idiot, but surely even he will have noticed the irony there...

[EastAnglianLefty]

I rather assumed that was a not particularly subtle appeal for MPs to lend him a nomination.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

https://twitter.com/lewis_goodall/status/1215360807011332097

Barry No Mates.

[Democratic Hawk]

The Labour Party is in a  bad way isn't?

[Filuwaúrdjan]

The Labour Party is in a  bad way isn't?

It has been in better health.

[CumbrianLefty]

The Labour Party is in a  bad way isn't?

It has been in better health.

And, on occasions, worse.

[afleitch]

The Labour Party is in a  bad way isn't?

It has been in better health.

And, on occasions, worse.

Being in coalition during WW3 will set it up well for two generations.

[Lord Halifax]

Clive Lewis calls for a referendum on the future of the Royal Family.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-51062770

Gamechanger

[CumbrianLefty]

The Labour Party is in a  bad way isn't?

It has been in better health.

And, on occasions, worse.

Being in coalition during WW3 will set it up well for two generations.

Brings a new meaning to leaders hunkering down in their bunker......

[brucejoel99]

Clive Lewis calls for a referendum on the future of the Royal Family.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-51062770

Gamechanger

I really hope this isn't how he thought he could gain momentum among MPs to get on the ballot, because this does not achieve that.

Actually, I'd argue that he's found the most Clive Lewis way to kill off his campaign: an incredibly-popular-among-leftists constitutional position combined with his love of all things democratic that absolutely nobody outside of politics thinks is worth prioritizing.

[Blair]

Someone in the PLP quipped he was doing a good Masters discussion of politics; his views just read like a pamphlet written by 12 centre-left people who go 'why has this never been tried'?

The two challenges for any Labour leader are winning the argument on competence, and on the economy- everything else is noise; and there's a reason spent the whole of 2015 banging on about these two topics.

[Blair]

Momentum will ballot a Yes/No on endorsing RLB & Rayner.

https://twitter.com/siennamarla/status/1216018797968216065

[Blair]

Kremlinology of this; this is pretty much what we expected. Momentum were set up solely for this purpose; to ensure that Jeremy losing didn't see the end of his project.

As always there is a difference between who Momentum activists endorse & who Momentum Members (of which there's 30K) vote for- I expect this is being done quickly so they can get organising for CLPs and ballot. (One underappreciated thing is that a winter leadership election after a general election will make it harder to get people to engage & it's on a shorter timescale than usual)

Apparently there were some votes for Burgon; who both Abbott & McDonnell have backed. If RLB is proof a below average politician can get pushed up by a faction, then Burgon is proof that some people will try and put the village dunce in power.

[CumbrianLefty]

IIRC the deputy vote went something like 13 Rayner/6 Burgon/1 Butler. So not really all that close, which is maybe encouraging given how much fundamentalist Corbynism dislikes AR (wrongly in my view)

Support for RLB as leader was unanimous - so not even a token vote for Lewis never mind Starmer.

[EastAnglianLefty]

Though it's worth noting that the Momentum's national co-ordinating group is firmly under Lansman's thumb (the rules for its composition were designed to keep the cranks out) and he's on Long-Bailey's campaign team, so that's not a massive shock.

[morgieb]

IIRC the deputy vote went something like 13 Rayner/6 Burgon/1 Butler. So not really all that close, which is maybe encouraging given how much fundamentalist Corbynism dislikes AR (wrongly in my view)

Support for RLB as leader was unanimous - so not even a token vote for Lewis never mind Starmer.

Yeah if Rayner's winning the Momentum endorsement easily she's got the Deputy Leadership in the bag. Probably even crosses 50% on the first ballot.

[CumbrianLefty]

Kremlinology of this; this is pretty much what we expected. Momentum were set up solely for this purpose; to ensure that Jeremy losing didn't see the end of his project.

As always there is a difference between who Momentum activists endorse & who Momentum Members (of which there's 30K) vote for- I expect this is being done quickly so they can get organising for CLPs and ballot. (One underappreciated thing is that a winter leadership election after a general election will make it harder to get people to engage & it's on a shorter timescale than usual)

Apparently there were some votes for Burgon; who both Abbott & McDonnell have backed. If RLB is proof a below average politician can get pushed up by a faction, then Burgon is proof that some people will try and put the village dunce in power.

Is it? Looks pretty similar to 2015 and 2016 to me.

(indeed, complaints that it is all taking too long appear to be more common)