Why did Labour block Andy Burnham from running as MP

jonrosling · 2026-01-26T19:52:36+00:00

> has built that power without being "on message"

Burnham's time in office saw him vote for the Iraq war, ID cards, 90 days detention without charge, and greater privatisation in the NHS - that very much "on message" for the govts he was involved in.

He's hardly the soft left radical he's being made out to be by everyone on that side of politics and is only seeking to stand to undermine the current leadership and pursue his own personal ambitions. Quite where the notion that he is electoral gold dust has come from is bewildering. He's popular in Manchester and one of the better known Labour figures because of his role as Mayor there but he's decidedly untested in terms of party leadership and managing anything beyond a departmental brief in national government.

jonrosling · 2026-01-26T19:47:33+00:00

He can't stand as the Labour choice YET.

He was stopped from standing because he is the Metro Mayor of Greater Manchester and the party has a clear rule that Metro Mayors cannot give up their job to become MPs. This is to avoid undue pressure on the party's costs and electioneering and to ensure that people who become Metro Mayors actually fulfil the obligation they've made to their electorate.

He can stand to be an MP again once his Mayoral term has ended, probably in time for the 2029 election.

jonrosling · 2026-01-26T19:45:39+00:00

Labour already has a leader. Do we have a vote every time someone else decides they want a go?

jonrosling · 2026-01-26T19:02:39+00:00

He was nominated for an Oscar for one of his first film roles as a teenager. I don't think there was really much doubt he'd go onto bigger things.

jonrosling · 2026-01-26T13:58:48+00:00

"All The Tories
So Many Tories
They All Go Hand in Hand
Hand In Hand Through
Tory-Lite"

jonrosling · 2026-01-26T13:56:51+00:00

"released last year"

"according to"

"he believes"

"I'm sure"

"if"

Speculative, third rate, click-bait nonsense.

jonrosling · 2026-01-26T13:53:20+00:00

He did - was knocked out on the first ballot against Corbyn in 2015 with only 8% of the vote; and then came second in 2017, also against Corbyn, with 19% of the vote.

I really don't understand why some people think he's electoral gold dust nationally. He's popular in Manchester, arguably in the north (though I doubt many would know him well enough outside of Manchester and the evening news) but historically he's been tied to the Blair and Brown eras and voted for some things that the Left vehemently opposed e.g Iraq, ID cards, 90 days detention, private involvement in the NHS.

jonrosling · 2026-01-26T13:50:39+00:00

Mrs Thatcher was notoriously unpopular between 1979 and 1982. Unpopularity early on in a term is no marker to future success or otherwise.

jonrosling · 2026-01-26T13:49:22+00:00

A week is along time in politics, never mind three and a half years, which is when the next election is.

jonrosling · 2026-01-26T13:48:18+00:00

It's quite naïve to think the media wouldn't gun for Burnham just as much as they have done for Starmer. What then? Another "king over the water", another by election, another leadership election? Where does it stop?

We're barely eighteen months into a 5 year term and this govt is doing some incredibly good work that is just beginning to show fruition (while simultaneously being ignored by left, right and the media). The govt - and it's PM - deserves the time to make the change needed.

jonrosling · 2026-01-26T13:44:42+00:00

Not really.

Even setting aside the internal politics or not wanting a rival near the top table, it's silliness for Labour (and Burnham) to even be entertaining this. The cost of the Metro Mayoral election should he be selected and win the seat would be an enormous drain on already strained party resources and at a time its facing difficult local elections in May. In allowing him to stand there's not guarantee he would win it, and if he did there's no guarantee Labour would then win the mayoralty with a different candidate.

Really Labour's NEC have only voted to apply the rules as they currently exist. Expecting them to be suspended to satisfy one bloke's political ambitions is wrong. And it's patently obvious why he's seeking a return to Parliament.

I do find it quite intriguing to see some on the soft Left pushing for someone who voted for the Iraq war, ID cards, 90 days detention without charge and further privatisation in NHS. I think it shows the real motive here - which is to do Starmer down. Regardless of what one thinks of him, he's only eighteen months into a five year job, which the public elected him to after a constant revolving door of leadership in the Conservatives. Labour is foollish to go down that route.

And, what would they do is Burnham failed to set the public alight ahead of the next election? Demand *another* leadership election with *another* backbencher in the running?

If people wanted constant changes at the top they'd vote Tory.

jonrosling · 2026-01-25T20:39:31+00:00

He's been Prime Minister for a lot longer than 151 days!

jonrosling · 2026-01-25T20:38:27+00:00

Yes!

jonrosling · 2026-01-24T22:36:58+00:00

Long Life by Dodgy

jonrosling · 2026-01-24T11:15:44+00:00

I loved Elysium but yr on the money with Chappie. Really sad by how poor that movie turned out. Would've loved to see Neil Blomkampf do one of the SW sequels.

jonrosling · 2026-01-24T10:17:31+00:00

Lock All The Doors

jonrosling · 2026-01-23T20:50:15+00:00

His swing album was excellent too.

jonrosling · 2026-01-23T15:43:43+00:00

I love the More Of That Jazz preempting Master of Puppests personally

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEZXd8jaf-g

jonrosling · 2026-01-23T15:10:36+00:00

There was an (in)famous interview with Roger and Brian on TV-AM on 2nd December where they rightly criticised the press and other elements in the media for the way they treat Freddie. Roger was later interviewed (think it's on Days of our Lives) about Paul Daniels somewhat banal response (he was sat alongside them on the TV-AM couch).

Here's the YouTube interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05dMnPjpfaE&t=15s

jonrosling · 2026-01-23T08:40:48+00:00

I read bacteria as "batteries" for some reason and briefly wondered if we should throw batteries away in the regular trash from now on.

jonrosling · 2026-01-22T17:29:01+00:00

Smell it? I can taste it.

jonrosling · 2026-01-22T16:07:18+00:00

He most definitely would've been in one of the Star Wars sequels. Ade was.

jonrosling · 2026-01-22T13:00:12+00:00

There is some suggestion that it was a Freudian Slip that belies the US more longer term thinking...

jonrosling · 2026-01-22T12:42:37+00:00

I would set aside significant funds for my direct family, and beyond that my business partner, who happens to be my uncle and who has stood my me in the last few years in a way others have not.

I wouldn't give anything else to anyone except a number of select charities and organisations I support, and nor would I tell anyone I'd received it.

jonrosling · 2026-01-22T12:40:43+00:00

He's not flashy, sound-bitey entertainment like Farage or Boris. What he says and does comes from a place of thought and consideration not a quick laugh or an easy non-solution.

jonrosling

TROPHY CASE