[mattomac]

And the previous one was Atlee.

Wouldn’t it be Wilson in 70?

Wilson later stepped down pre-election.

I know but he didn’t in 1970.

[Boiler]

IIRC Wilson stepped down in 1976 for Jim Callaghan.

[Malcolm Armsteen]

From an ex-pupil (member of FBU)

It's a national embarrassment that via billionaire funded disinformation channels, a massively biased press and with a whole load of AI using social media 'activists' and 'citizen journalists' (whatever that means) of both far left and far right we are sending the message that if you bully someone enough you win. That's what I see here today.
Great lesson for our kids - lie about people, obfuscate and bully to win in life.
I think Starmer made some catastrophic mistakes early on and his messaging and vision didn't cut through the noise generated but this feels like letting bullies win and no matter your feelings about Starmers leadership that can't be right.

Can't argue with any of that.

[Boiler]

Seems fair to me... depressing, innit?

More to the point: how the hell do you combat it? The media landscape is very different to a quarter of a century ago - now you have the Wild West of unregulated social networks to contend with on top of the legacy media.

[Andy McDandy]

I suspect it's one of those genies you can never put back in the bottle, partly because any attempts at self-restraint are professional suicide. Fact is, enough people want the shit, and it's cheaper than truffles.

[Boiler]

Don Henley is now in my head.

[Abernathy]

Latest is that Captain Hurricane (Al Carns) is apparently still interested, but may struggle to find 81 MPs ready publicly to endorse his leadership bid. Darren Jones is being encouraged, but he may decide it’s not worth the candle. Angie Rayner probably will not countenance it. The jury’s out on Yvette Cooper, as Alastair Campbell seems gnomically to be suggesting she shouldn’t be ruled out. But she’ll have served 30 years as an MP soon, and may no longer have the spark.

Diane Abbott is consulting her maths coach. Richard Burgon is co-ordinating the Campaign Group’s pizza order. Clive Lewis has new support pants with a reinforced gusset.

Meanwhile, Andy Burnham has booked a consultation with a south London curtain specialist. Karl Turner is running naked through Pickering Park shouting “I’m a nutcase, me. “

[Abernathy]

I’m leaning strongly towards there being a proper leadership contest, rather than a straight coronation of King Andy. The last time we did something similar was when Broon took over from Blair, and that really didn’t serve Gordon well.

There is an argument that Burnham really ought to welcome challengers, as winning through against them may lend his leadership of the party a measure of extra legitimacy. I think I’d buy that. There is time for a contest over the summer, particularly if the NEC decides pragmatically to truncate the process instead of the usual months of endless debate.

I’d vote for Darren Jones over Burnham.

[Oboogie]

Latest is that Captain Hurricane (Al Carns) is apparently still interested, but may struggle to find 81 MPs ready publicly to endorse his leadership bid. Darren Jones is being encouraged, but he may decide it’s not worth the candle. Angie Rayner probably will not countenance it. The jury’s out on Yvette Cooper, as Alastair Campbell seems gnomically to be suggesting she shouldn’t be ruled out. But she’ll have served 30 years as an MP soon, and may no longer have the spark.

Diane Abbott is consulting her maths coach. Richard Burgon is co-ordinating the Campaign Group’s pizza order. Clive Lewis has new support pants with a reinforced gusset.

Meanwhile, Andy Burnham has booked a consultation with a south London curtain specialist. Karl Turner is running naked through Pickering Park shouting “I’m a nutcase, me. “

All quite plausible bar your far-fetched final sentence which attributes a level of self-awareness far beyond Karl Turner.

[Abernathy]

The word from Nick Watt on Newsnight is that Burnham will appoint James Purnell, former Blairite minister at DCMS, as his chief of staff. Not really sure how interesting that is.

[Dalem Lake]

I remember Purnell and his sideburns when he was at DWP. Didn't he resign because he thought Brown was shit and then just disappeared?

[Oboogie]

I’m leaning strongly towards there being a proper leadership contest, rather than a straight coronation of King Andy. The last time we did something similar was when Broon took over from Blair, and that really didn’t serve Gordon well.

There is an argument that Burnham really ought to welcome challengers, as winning through against them may lend his leadership of the party a measure of extra legitimacy. I think I’d buy that. There is time for a contest over the summer, particularly if the NEC decides pragmatically to truncate the process instead of the usual months of endless debate.

I’d vote for Darren Jones over Burnham.

I think the best argument for a leadership contest is that it would force Burnham to say, publicly, what his plans are and how he intends to fund them.
I've been a Darren Jones fanboy for quite a while now, although I do wonder if he has sufficient experience yet.

[satnav]

My only issue with a contest is that we could see another Summer where Reform yet again dominate the headlines by calling a news conference every week like they did last year. Labour members need to spend the Summer sticking the boot into Farage rather than sticking the boot into each other.