The UK Labour Party has a new member of parliament, Andy Burnham, the so-called 'King of the North'. Some pundits are saying Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, may step down almost immediately, effectively anointing Burnham as his successor.
Labour has to do something as, right now, Reform UK are eating their lunch. Reform consistently poll as the most popular, leaving Labour fighting over second place with the Conservatives, and both are distant second.
Reform didn't do too badly in the by-election that saw Burnham elected. The Makerfield seat is a Labour stronghold and yet Reform grew their vote from the last time in 2024. They went for the same candidate and he was relentlessly attacked, as you may expect. But, he proved to be quite popular and Burnham's victory was only possible due to the tactical voting carried out. Voters hate Starmer and so many voters of varying stripes simply voted for the candidate they knew could replace him. Consequently, the LibDem and Green vote collapsed.
I note 'helpful' criticism of Reform coming from right-of-centre sources. They amount to nothing more than those wishing Reform join them in the swamp. Reform must stay the course and keep doing what they're doing, keep standing non-politicians as candidates and stay on message. With the thousands of local authority councillors they now have, they're well positioned to launch into a campaign for a General Election if one is called soon.
No comments:
Post a Comment