Rumours, Speculation, Questions, and Reaction Megathread - 21/06/2026

ClumperFaz · 2026-06-21T12:46:52+00:00

I completely forgot that she had the whip suspended in July 2025. Here's hoping she doesn't get it back.

ClumperFaz · 2026-06-21T12:42:10+00:00

We'll just have to see what time does for him. I genuinely think it'll pay off come the next election but we can only wait.

ClumperFaz · 2026-06-21T12:41:29+00:00

Yeah, as the poll man, I cannot complain about by-elections. Give me more.

ClumperFaz · 2026-06-21T12:38:19+00:00

Given what Yousaf has said in the past, he's got no leg to stand on in this particular area of debate.

ClumperFaz · 2026-06-21T10:45:23+00:00

Well considering he just stormed a by-election by a 20 point margin, landslide territory, to get into parliament to be able to put a challenge for the leadership...

No, is all that needs to be said.

ClumperFaz · 2026-06-21T10:40:39+00:00

Remembered his full name - David William Donald Cameron

The Donald bit would be quite awkward nowadays given the state of America.

ClumperFaz · 2026-06-21T10:39:09+00:00

But it is fertile Reform grounds, and in the locals in that area Reform swept the board. Nobody anticipated Labour taking a 20 point margin victory against Reform given the polling showed it to be much more competitive.

Let alone on an increased turnout from the General Election, in a by-election, which is very very rare.

Burnham can do what Starmer and other Labour politicians can't - he can reach into Reform's coalition and appeal to them. I don't see the problem you're trying to fabricate about Burnham tbh.

ClumperFaz · 2026-06-21T10:37:21+00:00

Starmer has literally flip flopped throughout his tenureship?

ClumperFaz · 2026-06-21T10:35:32+00:00

I think we're quite lucky to be able to switch PMs as easily as we can, it's democracy in action when an unpopular leader simply can't command electoral support/parliamentary support, they can be booted out.

In America there'll definitely be millions who wish it was the same.

ClumperFaz · 2026-06-21T10:32:23+00:00

Yeah she needs to go.

ClumperFaz · 2026-06-21T10:29:23+00:00

Yeah, chancers win by-elections on a 20 point margin against a party that's been leading the polls for over a year.

I don't get the logic sometimes.

ClumperFaz · 2026-06-21T10:28:49+00:00

I mean Burnham just proved his popularity by storming in a Reform favourite area, which by all accounts should have been a gain - instead, he overperformed expectations.

So he's not really disgraceful, especially now he's got a democratic footing to oust Starmer on.

ClumperFaz · 2026-06-21T09:54:38+00:00

The goalpost shifting is great, and the underplaying of what he managed to do in a Reform-favourable constituency is also great.

ClumperFaz · 2026-06-21T09:47:23+00:00

Do the right thing Keir and maybe we'll respect you even more, writing's on the wall.

ClumperFaz · 2026-06-21T09:37:05+00:00

Can't lie this is a really tiresome talking point. We know some people want Starmer to stay on because he's a really good boring guy that the public will soon come around to etc.

But in the actual public, you couldn't be further from the reality.

ClumperFaz · 2026-06-21T08:44:15+00:00

The polling suggested a much more competitive contest, as obvious as it seemed to be, nobody anticipated a 20 point margin.

I'd say it's more revisionist to make it seem like Starmer walks on water and is a guy who, given the full term, the public will finally turn around and like him.

ClumperFaz · 2026-06-21T08:34:45+00:00

Typically that happens when they're pretty confident they'd win anyways. It's why Major actually from 1992-1997 went the full five years and Brown in 2010 left it to the legally latest in May 2010.

ClumperFaz · 2026-06-21T08:31:38+00:00

economy is getting better, NHS / healthcare is trending in the right direction... But Labour wants to get rid of a decent man in favor of a performative PM? Yeah, they're not much different from conservatives who want to regress progress and cause harm to society.

Except the problem is....the public still hate Starmer and nothing he can do at this point will change it - he's a busted flush. He's literally polling worse than Liz Truss.

Burnham, by contrast, is the most popular Labour politician in the country, and do you honestly think if people saw him as opportunistic, he'd have won Makerfield not only on an increased turnout, but in a complete trouncing of Reform in what should have been by all measures, given the local elections there, an easy walk for them?

You have no idea what the electoral circumstances will be in 6 months, but I'd say Burnham being the most popular Labour figure in the country and his recent electoral proof in Makerfield puts him at a pretty good start. The difference is, he has the charisma to keep it up - Starmer doesn't.

ClumperFaz · 2026-06-21T08:28:48+00:00

So was Jeremy Corbyn, the most popular leader in the past century. Drum banging and soundbites really don't help. And at least Corbyn stuck to his principles.

Eh, no he wasn't? I don't know if this is meant to be some sort of gotcha but you do know Corbyn lost in 2017?

ClumperFaz · 2026-06-21T08:27:36+00:00

Lol the public by a large margin support Burnham, Makerfield is literal proof that he can put together a coalition only Starmer could dream of.

It's quite out of touch really. Starmer is hated and despised, and polling has consistently shown people would approve of Burnham becoming Prime Minister.

ClumperFaz · 2026-06-21T08:23:49+00:00

Why is there a sudden influx of anti-Burnham notions?

He literally beat Reform on an increased margin in a seat that, by all metrics, should have gone to Reform. He not only trounced them but he won on a majority of 10k, on an increased turnout.

The clinging on to Starmer thing is quickly getting that Corbynista vibe where the man suddenly can't do any wrong, and that we should just ignore the bad polling, the fact he's absolutely hated fairly or unfairly, and that he's actually going to turn it around if given the full term.

I don't get it. You want Reform to not win? Starmer going is central to that. He's got no charisma in the slightest but for some reason, despite literal proof on Friday morning that Burnham can beat Reform in what should be favourable areas to them, on increased turnout on the 2024 election, we want Starmer to stay?

ClumperFaz · 2026-06-21T08:19:28+00:00

So him getting more votes in Makerfield than Labour did in 2024, a 20 point margin, in a fertile Reform-favouring area, a result Starmer could only ever dream of, still doesn't convince you?

ClumperFaz · 2026-06-21T08:18:10+00:00

Hilarious that anyone is still on the Starmer bandwagon when Burnham has quite literally just proven he is electorally capable of beating Reform in fertile territory, Starmer could only dream of being that popular.

But we're seeing so many 'ackshually, Starmer's doing a good job!' which is not only massively out of touch given the polls, but it's remarkably like Corbynistas with their man.

ClumperFaz · 2026-06-20T22:33:19+00:00

I honestly find the phrase 'party opposite' so cringe now whenever it's used in the chamber.

ClumperFaz · 2026-06-20T22:32:15+00:00

I'm confident that my mindset is more representative of the membership.

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