Inter-galactic Empress Alison 💛💙🇪🇺🇪🇺🇪🇺🇪🇺

@labourlewis you NEVER supported Starmer. Stop trying to pretend you are reasonable

@labourlewis Oh shut up. You never supported Starmer

I know the news Andy Burnham has a route back to Westminster will divide opinion. So, before anything else, I want to speak plainly – to Labour members and voters, to those who have left us, and to anyone on the centre-left, whether you vote Green, Lib Dem, or are simply looking for a politics that hasn't given up on you. Last week's local election results were, for many of us, existential. Not disappointing. Not a setback. Existential. Look across Europe and beyond at what happens to social democratic parties that refuse to step outside the economic orthodoxy of the last forty years – the one that hollowed out our public services, privatised what was ours, drove inequality to indecent levels, and cleared the ground for the authoritarian right to march into. That is the path we are on. Keir Starmer has refused to see it, and the country cannot afford another general election spent finding out the hard way. So let me be direct. The Prime Minister should set out a timeline for an orderly transition. I have said this before. I say it again now because the stakes have changed. Reform is not a protest – it is a project. And it will not be beaten by a Labour Party that mistakes managerial caution for strategy. As regards Andy, I want to set down here that I do not see him as some kind of messiah. Far from it. As someone who has been around frontline politics for more than twenty years, he has made his fair share of mistakes. But for the last ten years he has been a serious, grounded, and effective Mayor of Greater Manchester. The party and the country need their strongest players on the pitch, and he has a great deal to offer at a moment when the national stage has rarely mattered more. I hope the NEC will listen to the overwhelming view of the Cabinet, the PLP, the membership, and the unions, and let Andy stand. And I hope and believe the people of Makerfield will send him back to Parliament. But that is not a given. We know Reform will throw everything at this by-election. We must do the same and then some. Reform have spent a year being told they are inevitable. Makerfield is where we find out whether that is true. Every advance has a limit. This is where we set it. Millions of people, including my constituents in Norwich South, need this government to succeed. They need housing, working public services, secure jobs, water and energy that serves them rather than extracts from them. That work is not finished. But the honest truth is that stopping Reform and rebuilding the country is bigger than any one party. It will take a progressive politics willing to listen, willing to cooperate where the public interest demands it, and willing to drop the tribal habits that got us here. The country is ahead of us on this. It is time we caught up. Makerfield is one of many places where Labour has lost trust. It is an area Andy knows and has lived in for many years. If selected, he will work hard to win that trust back and make the case for a Labour Party worth voting for again. That case has to be made not only to people who once voted Labour, but to everyone who believes the answer to Reform is a serious, democratic, social alternative – not a paler imitation of the politics that created the problem. This by-election is not about one seat. It is a test of whether Labour understands the moment we are in. No single party is going to stop Reform on its own. The progressive majority in this country is real – but it is scattered across Labour, the Greens, the Lib Dems, nationalists, independents, and millions of people who have stopped voting altogether. Our job is not to demand they all come back to us. It is to earn the right to work with them, on shared ground, for a shared future. To former Labour voters: come and talk to us again. To Green and Lib Dem voters: we are not enemies. To Labour members and MPs: this is the fight. Let's get on with it. bbc.co.uk/news/articles/…

So help me.. Migration is dropping.. Economy is recovering.. UK foreign policy is effectively navigating a historically risky world.. But @UKLabour needs to push @Keir_Starmer out?

@FraserNelson Exactly

“Will work hard to regain the trust of people in the Makerfield constituency” What about the trust of the people of Manchester, who he promised to serve a third term as mayor? They now get a £4m by-election? All this smacks of voters used to serve politicians, not vice-versa.

Can anyone explain what the plan is for when Burnham loses? Asking for the entire fucking country who is absolutely sick to the back teeth of this bullshit.

Remember the huge media fanfare when Farage launched a crowdfunder in March 2025 for his “independent grooming gangs inquiry”? The Crowdfunder page showed c.£788k raised. A year later: no inquiry, no published accounts, no explanation of where the money went, and no refunds.

🌹 Labour gains in 2x Filton Town Council by-elections yesterday! These were seats held by a Green & a Tory, and straight run-offs between us & Reform… we gained both! 🌹 Thank you to everyone who voted for Andy & Mac, who will be brilliant Cllrs - and to our excellent team!

‘You have done a better job than any cabinet minister of telling us the story of Keir Starmer’s successes.’ As Wes Streeting resigns, Caller Martin reminds @TomSwarbrick1 of what the PM has delivered.

2. Keir Starmer has dealt with Trump and Trump’s insults when he didn’t drag us into war. He has supported Ukraine and our European neighbours while rebuilding security and economic deals. His govt has made great advances rebuilding the crashed economy. He is a gentleman.

@likesretirement That is exactly the issue

So here’s my problem with Josh Simons’ “resignation” a) he doesn’t decide who the Labour candidate is b) the Greens will take a good chunk of his vote & Reform don’t need much Tory support to overturn the majority c) if my MP had done that, I’d not be voting Labour #FoolishBoy

Doesn’t look like Farage has registered his £1.4m house Register of Interests for Nigel Farage - MPs and Lords - UK Parliament members.parliament.uk/member/5091/re…

I don’t even need to share this… Cos obviously it will be all over our news 🙄

A lot of anger at @AndyBurnham including mine. He sat back and let @Keir_Starmer and his government do all the hard work, knowing bloody well that change couldn't possibly happen quickly. Now Burnham hopes to sail in, smash and grab. No wonder we're all angry.

@AndyBurnhamGM @wesstreeting Hugely disappointing both of you. It's clear you think you matter more than the country. The PM has made mistakes & the pace could be increased but the direction is correct & he does care. You may both find a lot of people would rather stay with Keir

Well done Streeting. You’ve given the media and the enemies of Labour just what they wanted. Look at the state of Mason, Zeffman et al. All creaming their pants. You are a fucking rat just like your wee pal Sarwar. Shame on you.

Labour were out of power for 14 years. They won a 174 seat majority under Starmer. Now, less than two years in, MPs are panicking and self-destructing. Just amateur.

@NerineHalton Agreed. He lost against CORBYN!!!!!

You know what really boils my piss ? Burnham dumps Manchester , creating a hugely undesirable mayoral election which Labour won’t necessarily win. Then he swans into Downing Street after Starmer’s done all the heavy lifting. 3rd rate behaviour. Enraged here. 😡

@RichardBurgon I expect Farage will throw everything at the bye-election and people might just vote for him.

The single biggest challenge facing the Labour movement is stopping Nigel Farage becoming Prime Minister. Labour’s NEC must allow Andy Burnham to stand in Makerfield. Blocking him again would weaken Labour even further in the polls - and we may never recover.

Hang on a second… First Farage says the £5m was nothing to do with politics and was for his security Now he’s saying it was a reward for Brexit?! Keep digging Farage.