| Morgan McSweeney resigns (n/t) 14:21 - Feb 8 with 2560 views | Keno |
This post has been edited by an administrator |  |
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| Morgan McSweeney resigns (n/t) on 17:35 - Feb 8 with 678 views | GlasgowBlue |
| Morgan McSweeney resigns (n/t) on 17:28 - Feb 8 by pointofblue |
I honestly thought the X post was a parody account to start with. |
Are you suggesting that Liz Truss has a complete lack of self awareness? |  |
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| Morgan McSweeney resigns (n/t) on 17:51 - Feb 8 with 640 views | OldFart71 |
| Morgan McSweeney resigns (n/t) on 14:26 - Feb 8 by WeWereZombies |
Good news...if it keeps Starmer in the job to carry on flushing until the blockages are cleared. Then he can address the waiting queue with 'I'd give it five minutes if I were you, by the way we need a new roll...' |
If Starmer gets rid of your so called blockages there will be nobody left. A party that declared they would be far better than the Tories. Where they had Rayner continually calling out the Tories for sleaze and lies and yet we have had one after another of the Labour party being removed for the very things that they are in their various jobs for.
A man of the so called intelligence of Starmer should not be allowing someone like McSweeney rule his judgement.
He cannot continually blame other people because he has bad judgement.
No matter who is in government we should be able to rely on them serving us and doing everything that is in the interests of the country. That has not happened for a long, long time. |  | | |
| Morgan McSweeney resigns (n/t) on 17:54 - Feb 8 with 625 views | pointofblue |
| Morgan McSweeney resigns (n/t) on 17:35 - Feb 8 by GlasgowBlue |
Are you suggesting that Liz Truss has a complete lack of self awareness? |
All I'll say is part of me wishes I had a X account so I could read the responses. | |
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| Morgan McSweeney resigns (n/t) on 18:14 - Feb 8 with 611 views | gtsb1966 |
Am I being thick here but surely you would appoint someone different than the deputies of someone who has helped get you in this situation in the first place.
Jill Cuthbertson and Vidhya Alakeson have been asked to be the prime minister's acting chiefs of staff, Downing Street has confirmed.
Downing Street have confirmed the appointments of the pair, who were Morgan McSweeney's joint deputies before he resigned. |  | | |
| Morgan McSweeney resigns (n/t) on 18:17 - Feb 8 with 603 views | WeWereZombies |
| Morgan McSweeney resigns (n/t) on 17:51 - Feb 8 by OldFart71 |
If Starmer gets rid of your so called blockages there will be nobody left. A party that declared they would be far better than the Tories. Where they had Rayner continually calling out the Tories for sleaze and lies and yet we have had one after another of the Labour party being removed for the very things that they are in their various jobs for.
A man of the so called intelligence of Starmer should not be allowing someone like McSweeney rule his judgement.
He cannot continually blame other people because he has bad judgement.
No matter who is in government we should be able to rely on them serving us and doing everything that is in the interests of the country. That has not happened for a long, long time. |
I think 'rule his judgement' is too strong to describe what McSweeney was doing for Starmer, advisers come in many shapes and sizes and they are nothing new. From Cesaré Borgia's Machiavelli to Wesminster's SPADs they have strengthened the positions of leaders, Princes even, or led to their downfall. Fortuna and virtu isn't it ? You can be the sweetest of people but if circumstances kick you in the nuts everyone watching has a laugh and you can be the most obnoxious player on the field but if the rest of the team of the team and the management and the supporters think they need a master of the dark arts then every crunching tackle will be cheered.
For what it is worth I was heartened to see the victims kept in the picture as part of the resignation speech (and by Starmer during last Wednesday's questions), maybe these are just crocodile tears but that is where the greatest need for correction lies and perhaps Badenich would be best advised (I'm sure she has SPADs too)to mention them once in a while if only for some PR balance. |  |
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| Morgan McSweeney resigns (n/t) on 18:46 - Feb 8 with 560 views | OldFart71 |
| Morgan McSweeney resigns (n/t) on 18:17 - Feb 8 by WeWereZombies |
I think 'rule his judgement' is too strong to describe what McSweeney was doing for Starmer, advisers come in many shapes and sizes and they are nothing new. From Cesaré Borgia's Machiavelli to Wesminster's SPADs they have strengthened the positions of leaders, Princes even, or led to their downfall. Fortuna and virtu isn't it ? You can be the sweetest of people but if circumstances kick you in the nuts everyone watching has a laugh and you can be the most obnoxious player on the field but if the rest of the team of the team and the management and the supporters think they need a master of the dark arts then every crunching tackle will be cheered.
For what it is worth I was heartened to see the victims kept in the picture as part of the resignation speech (and by Starmer during last Wednesday's questions), maybe these are just crocodile tears but that is where the greatest need for correction lies and perhaps Badenich would be best advised (I'm sure she has SPADs too)to mention them once in a while if only for some PR balance. |
Politicians are past masters at making things seem like they care when it comes to them trying to wriggle out of situations. Many of them like Tony Blair were taught how to use words and make motions to get their point across.
It was McSweeney that suggested to Starmer that Mandelson be given the job. As the boss it was up to Starmer whether he took the advice of McSweeney and at the same time ignored people like Gordon Brown and the security services and also Mandelsons previous dealings and sackings. He chose to accept McSweeney and now McSweeney has fallen on his sword. | | | |
| Morgan McSweeney resigns (n/t) on 18:47 - Feb 8 with 558 views | GlasgowBlue |
So are there going to be any other resignations or is McSweeney on his tod? | |
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| Morgan McSweeney resigns (n/t) on 18:48 - Feb 8 with 559 views | DJR |
With Mandelson having to resign because of Budget leaks and the like, Rachel Reeves must be quaking in her boots.  |  | | |
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| Morgan McSweeney resigns (n/t) on 18:54 - Feb 8 with 550 views | OldFart71 |
| Morgan McSweeney resigns (n/t) on 18:47 - Feb 8 by GlasgowBlue |
So are there going to be any other resignations or is McSweeney on his tod? |
Depends on how many others have demons. | | | |
| Morgan McSweeney resigns (n/t) on 18:57 - Feb 8 with 542 views | DJR |
My view at the time was that it would have been better to stick with Karen Pierce as US ambassador, not least because she was a civil servant and not a career politician.
https://britbrief.co.uk/politi
"Before Mandelson's controversial appointment, Dame Karen Pierce, 66, had established herself as an exceptionally effective diplomat in Washington. With a distinguished career spanning decades, including two previous tours in the American capital and a highly successful tenure as Britain's top diplomat at the United Nations, Pierce had earned the nickname The Trump Whisperer for her remarkable rapport with the former president.
Donald Trump himself described Pierce as fab, and her diplomatic skills proved invaluable during turbulent political moments. When David Lammy faced difficulties over historical tweets criticising Trump, it was Pierce who stabilised relations. Most notably, she secured an extended dinner meeting between Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Trump shortly after the latter survived an assassination attempt, laying the groundwork for what became an unlikely diplomatic connection." [Post edited 8 Feb 18:59]
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| Morgan McSweeney resigns (n/t) on 19:39 - Feb 8 with 497 views | GlasgowBlue |
| Morgan McSweeney resigns (n/t) on 18:54 - Feb 8 by OldFart71 |
Depends on how many others have demons. |
Fleet Street have been all over this resignation. | |
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| Morgan McSweeney resigns (n/t) on 21:57 - Feb 8 with 424 views | DJR |
| Morgan McSweeney resigns (n/t) on 16:59 - Feb 8 by DJR |
I didn't really pick up on this aspect of his resignation speech which seems to be an attempt in part to shift blame.
"Secondly, while I did not oversee the due diligence and vetting process, I believe that process must now be fundamentally overhauled. This cannot simply be a gesture but a safeguard for the future."
Starmer made this point too a couple of days ago, but as someone from the Institute of Government said in response to that, there is a limit as to what Developed Vetting (by which it is known and which I have undergone) can find out. And it's not clear to me that any deeper checks would have found out that Mandelson was leaking sensitive information, which I think it the thing that tipped things over the edge.
EDIT: by way of background Developed Vetting is described thus in Wikipedia.
"DV is one of the most detailed and comprehensive form of security clearance in UK government. It is needed for posts that require individuals to have frequent and uncontrolled access to TOP SECRET assets, or require any access to TOP SECRET codeword material.
The process for DV clearance includes:
BPSS check.
Completion, by the individual, of a Security Questionnaire, a DV Supplement and Financial Questionnaire.
A check of both spent and unspent criminal records.
A check of credit and financial history with a credit reference agency.
A check of Security Service (MI5) records.
A full review of personal finances.
Checks on foreign travel/foreign contacts.
A detailed interview conducted by a vetting officer.
Further enquiries, including interviews with referees conducted by a vetting officer."
What they are really looking for is inconsistencies or things that might make one subject to blackmail, but in my case they could never have found that (were it the case) I was disclosing secret information to outside persons because that can always be done orally.
[Post edited 8 Feb 17:48]
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This from the Guardian indicate that existing procedures were more than adequate.
"One well-placed source said the documents would show that the Cabinet Office’s propriety and ethics team had warned of the serious reputational risk of appointing Mandelson given his publicly known links with Epstein."
Who in their right mind would appoint Mandelson given that?
Answers on a postcard! [Post edited 8 Feb 22:00]
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| Morgan McSweeney resigns (n/t) on 22:09 - Feb 8 with 413 views | Swansea_Blue |
| Morgan McSweeney resigns (n/t) on 17:54 - Feb 8 by pointofblue |
All I'll say is part of me wishes I had a X account so I could read the responses. |
It’s almost worth being a fascist, white supremacist supporter for isn’t it? Tempting, but still not enough for me.
I see Substack is being outed as an outlet pumping out Nazi information now as well. Literal Nazi propaganda too; no confusion here, it’s full on swastika and blatant antisemitism/holocaust denial stuff. A lot of investigative journalists use it, so this will test a few moral positions. |  |
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| Morgan McSweeney resigns (n/t) on 22:25 - Feb 8 with 393 views | Swansea_Blue |
BTW, I’ve not seen much mention of his use of a PR firm to investigate journalists looking into possible dark money funding of Labour Together. That seems at least as big a deal as Mandleson to me. Dodgy as hell.
https://www.declassifieduk.org
I think the FT got the scoop but this is the first non-paywall link I can see. | |
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| Morgan McSweeney resigns (n/t) on 22:33 - Feb 8 with 380 views | Camul123 |
| Morgan McSweeney resigns (n/t) on 22:25 - Feb 8 by Swansea_Blue |
BTW, I’ve not seen much mention of his use of a PR firm to investigate journalists looking into possible dark money funding of Labour Together. That seems at least as big a deal as Mandleson to me. Dodgy as hell.
https://www.declassifieduk.org
I think the FT got the scoop but this is the first non-paywall link I can see. |
Khadija Sharife and Peter Geoghegan broke that story on Substack
https://democracyforsale.subst | | | |
| Morgan McSweeney resigns (n/t) on 07:31 - Feb 9 with 312 views | DJR |
| Morgan McSweeney resigns (n/t) on 22:25 - Feb 8 by Swansea_Blue |
BTW, I’ve not seen much mention of his use of a PR firm to investigate journalists looking into possible dark money funding of Labour Together. That seems at least as big a deal as Mandleson to me. Dodgy as hell.
https://www.declassifieduk.org
I think the FT got the scoop but this is the first non-paywall link I can see. |
The Guardian had a couple of articles on this at the weekend.
https://www.theguardian.com/po
https://www.theguardian.com/po
But the sort of thing that was going on first emerged back in September. Unsurprisingly, it didn't get much publicity, apart from an article in the National. But the investigation of Holden is mentioned in one of the Guardian articles. I might add that the Tweet is worth reading in full.
If you want to know the gory details of what went on with Labour Together I suggest you read Holden's book, The Fraud: Keir Starmer, Morgan McSweeney, and the Crisis of British Democracy.
Of course, the departure of McSweeney will no doubt take the heat off the shadowy role that Labour Together played in the toxic things that went on but it is worth bearing in mind that the following appeared on its website in 2023 when it finally came out in the open. Unsurprisingly it no longer appears on its website but it was captured by the Internet Archive..
https://web.archive.org/web/20 https:/labourtogether.uk/what-
"Labour Together was built by a group of MPs - Shabana Mahmood, Steve Reed, Bridget Philipson, Wes Streeting, Lucy Powell, Rachel Reeves, Jim McMahon, Jon Cruddas and Lisa Nandy - who wanted to see Labour back in power.
In Labour’s wilderness years, Labour Together fought to make the party electable again. In 2020, with Morgan McSweeney as Director, it united the party behind Keir Starmer’s leadership campaign. In the years since, Keir Starmer has reformed the party, placed the country’s interests at its heart, and put Labour on the path to power."
This means that all of the leadership candidates on the right are tarnished by what went on. And whilst Rayner was not involved with Labour Together (being too much of a lefty for them), she is tarnished by the stamp duty furore.
The only hope for Labour now in my view is a leader who was not involved in all that went on from 2017, and that is Andy Burnham. [Post edited 9 Feb 7:40]
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| Morgan McSweeney resigns (n/t) on 07:40 - Feb 9 with 295 views | NthQldITFC |
| Morgan McSweeney resigns (n/t) on 16:00 - Feb 8 by GlasgowBlue |
"there is no Labour Liz Truss!'
Not all bad news for Labour then. |
By that logic, after Ange they'll be hunting around the salad department at Waitrose. |  |
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| Morgan McSweeney resigns (n/t) on 07:51 - Feb 9 with 287 views | DJR |
Byline Times put online this article setting out diary entries of Peter Oborne which had predicted it would all end in tears. And what is said towards the end about Paul Holden's book is indicative of how supportive the media has been of the Labour Together project.
It's well worth reading in full.
https://bylinetimes.com/2026/0 [Post edited 9 Feb 7:51]
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| Morgan McSweeney resigns (n/t) on 07:52 - Feb 9 with 283 views | You_Bloo_Right |
| Morgan McSweeney resigns (n/t) on 18:46 - Feb 8 by OldFart71 |
Politicians are past masters at making things seem like they care when it comes to them trying to wriggle out of situations. Many of them like Tony Blair were taught how to use words and make motions to get their point across.
It was McSweeney that suggested to Starmer that Mandelson be given the job. As the boss it was up to Starmer whether he took the advice of McSweeney and at the same time ignored people like Gordon Brown and the security services and also Mandelsons previous dealings and sackings. He chose to accept McSweeney and now McSweeney has fallen on his sword. |
Poorly advised?
It does call to mind Billy Foster's story about his first round caddying for Ballesteros at Augusta:
'He hits the fairway at the 9th and he is doing OK. It is uphill, against the wind to a front left pin, and he says pitching wedge. I tell him it’s a 9 and he says OK and hits a great shot and I’m thinking the crowd are going to go wild and he will give me a big hug.
Nobody reacts and when we arrive the ball is on the top of three tiers, putting down a marble staircase from 80 feet. He putts it and the ball stops on the edge of the green on the wrong tier. And then it starts trickling, you could see the dimples, and it finishes six inches away.
Coming off the green he puts his arm around me with a big smile and says: “It’s not your fault Billy, it’s mine for listening to you.”' |  |
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| Morgan McSweeney resigns (n/t) on 08:00 - Feb 9 with 270 views | Churchman |
| Morgan McSweeney resigns (n/t) on 16:59 - Feb 8 by DJR |
I didn't really pick up on this aspect of his resignation speech which seems to be an attempt in part to shift blame.
"Secondly, while I did not oversee the due diligence and vetting process, I believe that process must now be fundamentally overhauled. This cannot simply be a gesture but a safeguard for the future."
Starmer made this point too a couple of days ago, but as someone from the Institute of Government said in response to that, there is a limit as to what Developed Vetting (by which it is known and which I have undergone) can find out. And it's not clear to me that any deeper checks would have found out that Mandelson was leaking sensitive information, which I think it the thing that tipped things over the edge.
EDIT: by way of background Developed Vetting is described thus in Wikipedia.
"DV is one of the most detailed and comprehensive form of security clearance in UK government. It is needed for posts that require individuals to have frequent and uncontrolled access to TOP SECRET assets, or require any access to TOP SECRET codeword material.
The process for DV clearance includes:
BPSS check.
Completion, by the individual, of a Security Questionnaire, a DV Supplement and Financial Questionnaire.
A check of both spent and unspent criminal records.
A check of credit and financial history with a credit reference agency.
A check of Security Service (MI5) records.
A full review of personal finances.
Checks on foreign travel/foreign contacts.
A detailed interview conducted by a vetting officer.
Further enquiries, including interviews with referees conducted by a vetting officer."
What they are really looking for is inconsistencies or things that might make one subject to blackmail, but in my case they could never have found that (were it the case) I was disclosing secret information to outside persons because that can always be done orally.
[Post edited 8 Feb 17:48]
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I never had to do Developed Vetting (DV), thank goodness, SC clearance being the most I needed. But I know and worked with plenty of people who did and the people that used to do the vetting work for HMRC.
DV is very much an honesty check and it’s very detailed. My mate was asked ‘do you watch porn?’ He said yes. ‘What do you watch; what are you into?’ Was the next question. My chum gulped and spilled the beans. And was told ‘correct, yes you do. We know what you are interested in’ and then proceeded to have a good laugh about it.
My ex-boss who did it described it as an intrusive nightmare - no idea what he’d got up to, but I was just pleased not to go through it.
As for McSweeney, it’s all very well doing the sacrifice bit but there is a problem for me. He might have been responsible in advising, recommending Mandelson, but Starmer is accountable. He appointed him. It’s as simple as that.
It’s not as if the world didn’t already know what a slippery character he is or that there was nobody else for the job. From what I read the person he replaced was perfectly competent and there were plenty of others who could do that job too. But it looks from the outsider as if Starmer wanted a big name; a big hitter. There’s nothing dodgy in it, but it’s a serious error of judgement and he should resign.
Stopping Burnham from standing for a seat was a serious error too. Makes him look weak and scared. Doing a snow job on it over ‘cost of an election’ was ludicrous. Just appoint his deputy to the Manchester job. Sorted. He’s the only credible candidate.
Above all, I get that Labour are short of a replacement for Starmer, but that really isn’t the point for me. |  | | |
| Morgan McSweeney resigns (n/t) on 08:08 - Feb 9 with 261 views | DJR |
| Morgan McSweeney resigns (n/t) on 08:00 - Feb 9 by Churchman |
I never had to do Developed Vetting (DV), thank goodness, SC clearance being the most I needed. But I know and worked with plenty of people who did and the people that used to do the vetting work for HMRC.
DV is very much an honesty check and it’s very detailed. My mate was asked ‘do you watch porn?’ He said yes. ‘What do you watch; what are you into?’ Was the next question. My chum gulped and spilled the beans. And was told ‘correct, yes you do. We know what you are interested in’ and then proceeded to have a good laugh about it.
My ex-boss who did it described it as an intrusive nightmare - no idea what he’d got up to, but I was just pleased not to go through it.
As for McSweeney, it’s all very well doing the sacrifice bit but there is a problem for me. He might have been responsible in advising, recommending Mandelson, but Starmer is accountable. He appointed him. It’s as simple as that.
It’s not as if the world didn’t already know what a slippery character he is or that there was nobody else for the job. From what I read the person he replaced was perfectly competent and there were plenty of others who could do that job too. But it looks from the outsider as if Starmer wanted a big name; a big hitter. There’s nothing dodgy in it, but it’s a serious error of judgement and he should resign.
Stopping Burnham from standing for a seat was a serious error too. Makes him look weak and scared. Doing a snow job on it over ‘cost of an election’ was ludicrous. Just appoint his deputy to the Manchester job. Sorted. He’s the only credible candidate.
Above all, I get that Labour are short of a replacement for Starmer, but that really isn’t the point for me. |
Absolutely, it was all to do with finding out if you were being honest, and trying to find out if there was anything you could be blackmailed about.
Friends of mine were even asked what books I particularly liked to check if it coincided with what I said.
But if you are an inveterate liar like Mandelson, that is something that vetting will never pick up, if there are secret aspect of your life, such as leaking information to Epstein. [Post edited 9 Feb 8:09]
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| Morgan McSweeney resigns (n/t) on 08:42 - Feb 9 with 231 views | Churchman |
| Morgan McSweeney resigns (n/t) on 08:08 - Feb 9 by DJR |
Absolutely, it was all to do with finding out if you were being honest, and trying to find out if there was anything you could be blackmailed about.
Friends of mine were even asked what books I particularly liked to check if it coincided with what I said.
But if you are an inveterate liar like Mandelson, that is something that vetting will never pick up, if there are secret aspect of your life, such as leaking information to Epstein. [Post edited 9 Feb 8:09]
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No, vetting won’t necessarily pick that up, but I would hope they would dig deep enough to verify beyond just his oily reputation what kind of a person he is. Ideal world stuff on my part.
Interesting question re books you read. I’m not sure my friends would have the faintest idea if they asked that about me - beyond knowing I read a lot. | | | |
| Morgan McSweeney resigns (n/t) on 08:49 - Feb 9 with 226 views | DJR |
| Morgan McSweeney resigns (n/t) on 08:42 - Feb 9 by Churchman |
No, vetting won’t necessarily pick that up, but I would hope they would dig deep enough to verify beyond just his oily reputation what kind of a person he is. Ideal world stuff on my part.
Interesting question re books you read. I’m not sure my friends would have the faintest idea if they asked that about me - beyond knowing I read a lot. |
Leaving aside DV, for me the real killer was this, from the Guardian.
"One well-placed source said the documents would show that the Cabinet Office’s propriety and ethics team had warned of the serious reputational risk of appointing Mandelson given his publicly known links with Epstein."
As regards books, it was my best friend in particular with whom I discussed favourite books of ours.
And at the time of the Cold War, I disclosed a fling I had had with a Bulgarian rep at a ski resort during two holidays there. I carried on letter contact with her after the holidays but stopped when I joined the Civil Service, given civil servants in our ski group mentioned they had been warned to be wary of contacts there. The person interviewing me didn't bat an eyelid because I was honest about it [Post edited 9 Feb 8:59]
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| Morgan McSweeney resigns (n/t) on 09:14 - Feb 9 with 187 views | Churchman |
| Morgan McSweeney resigns (n/t) on 08:49 - Feb 9 by DJR |
Leaving aside DV, for me the real killer was this, from the Guardian.
"One well-placed source said the documents would show that the Cabinet Office’s propriety and ethics team had warned of the serious reputational risk of appointing Mandelson given his publicly known links with Epstein."
As regards books, it was my best friend in particular with whom I discussed favourite books of ours.
And at the time of the Cold War, I disclosed a fling I had had with a Bulgarian rep at a ski resort during two holidays there. I carried on letter contact with her after the holidays but stopped when I joined the Civil Service, given civil servants in our ski group mentioned they had been warned to be wary of contacts there. The person interviewing me didn't bat an eyelid because I was honest about it [Post edited 9 Feb 8:59]
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How interesting. I’ll have to ask my mate who enjoys porn whether he disclosed his dalliances with prostitutes (while in a long term relationship).
I would have thought the reputational risk of appointing that creep Mandelson was as obvious as the sun coming up, long before the CO ethnics team got involved. In the work I was involved in reputational risk was always a major factor in everything we did both for the CS and politicians. It really wasn’t difficult and that’s what I don’t understand about Starmer and appointing him. | | | |
| Morgan McSweeney resigns (n/t) on 09:56 - Feb 9 with 131 views | WeWereZombies |
| Morgan McSweeney resigns (n/t) on 07:31 - Feb 9 by DJR |
The Guardian had a couple of articles on this at the weekend.
https://www.theguardian.com/po
https://www.theguardian.com/po
But the sort of thing that was going on first emerged back in September. Unsurprisingly, it didn't get much publicity, apart from an article in the National. But the investigation of Holden is mentioned in one of the Guardian articles. I might add that the Tweet is worth reading in full.
If you want to know the gory details of what went on with Labour Together I suggest you read Holden's book, The Fraud: Keir Starmer, Morgan McSweeney, and the Crisis of British Democracy.
Of course, the departure of McSweeney will no doubt take the heat off the shadowy role that Labour Together played in the toxic things that went on but it is worth bearing in mind that the following appeared on its website in 2023 when it finally came out in the open. Unsurprisingly it no longer appears on its website but it was captured by the Internet Archive..
https://web.archive.org/web/20 https:/labourtogether.uk/what-
"Labour Together was built by a group of MPs - Shabana Mahmood, Steve Reed, Bridget Philipson, Wes Streeting, Lucy Powell, Rachel Reeves, Jim McMahon, Jon Cruddas and Lisa Nandy - who wanted to see Labour back in power.
In Labour’s wilderness years, Labour Together fought to make the party electable again. In 2020, with Morgan McSweeney as Director, it united the party behind Keir Starmer’s leadership campaign. In the years since, Keir Starmer has reformed the party, placed the country’s interests at its heart, and put Labour on the path to power."
This means that all of the leadership candidates on the right are tarnished by what went on. And whilst Rayner was not involved with Labour Together (being too much of a lefty for them), she is tarnished by the stamp duty furore.
The only hope for Labour now in my view is a leader who was not involved in all that went on from 2017, and that is Andy Burnham. [Post edited 9 Feb 7:40]
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There's no current groundswell for her, according to Google, but having watched Nick Robinson's interview with her last year I have quite a bit of time for Heidi Alexander (despite her being a Swindon supporter.) I'm wondering whether, when a leadership change comes, she can be the candidate to appease both wings (being a one time Corbyn shadow cabinet appointee and then drafted into Transport sixteen months ago as a cabinet minister.) Incidentally her disenchantment with Corbyn was fairly damning, stating that he ran shadow cabinet meetings from pre-prepared notes and discussion was minimal, sounds like the opportunity to become deputy mayor to Sadiq Khan was a fortunate and constructive get out for her. | |
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