Bryan Smith #RejoinEU same handle on BlueSky

I can confirm that I will be requesting the permission of the NEC to stand in the Makerfield by-election. I grew up in this area and have lived here for 25 years. I care deeply about it and its people. I know they have been let down by national politics. Ten years ago, I decided to leave Westminster. Why? Because, after 16 years, I came to the conclusion that our national political system does not work for areas like ours. I learnt this fighting its failure to invest in the Wigan borough, for justice for the Hillsborough families and against its treatment of Greater Manchester during the pandemic. Over the last decade, I have been challenging this failure from the outside and building a new and better way of doing politics. We have built Greater Manchester into the fastest-growing city-region in the UK and put buses back under public control, introducing a £2 fare cap to help people with cost-of-living pressures. However, there is only so much that can be done from Greater Manchester. Much bigger change is needed at a national level if everyday life is to be made more affordable again. This is why I now seek people’s support to return to Parliament: to bring the change we have brought to Greater Manchester to the whole of the UK and make politics work properly for people. Millions are struggling and they need the Labour Government to succeed. It has already made changes to make life better for them in its first two years. After this week, we owe it to people to come back together as a Labour movement, giving the Prime Minister and the Government the space and stability they need as the by-election takes place. I want to recognise the difficult decision taken by Josh Simons and the sacrifice he and his family are making. I have worked closely with him as Mayor on issues like flooding and illegal waste dumping and have seen first-hand how effective he has been. He has put the communities of Makerfield first, made a real difference for them and should take great pride in that. Finally, I truly do not take a single vote for granted and will work hard to regain the trust of people in the Makerfield constituency, many of whom have long supported our party but lost faith in recent times. We will change Labour for the better and make it a party you can believe in again. ENDS

We need our best players on the pitch. There is no doubt that Andy Burnham is one of them. The Makerfield by-election will be tough. Votes will need to be earned. Andy is the best chance of winning and that should override factional advantage or propping up one person.

Now that it's a question of when rather than if Keir Starmer steps down, it seems his legacy will divide opinion for years. One part of it that will become clearer with time is that he inherited one of the most politically and economically damaged versions of modern Britain any prime minister has faced. 1. Starmer took office after years of Brexit paralysis, leadership chaos, economic instability, collapsing trust in politics and public services pushed close to breaking point. 2. The political challenge was not simply winning power. It was restoring a basic sense that government itself could still function competently after years where politics often felt erratic and performative. 3. And whatever people think of Labour now, Britain does feel politically calmer than it did during the final years of Conservative rule. The problem for Starmer is that stabilisation rarely feels emotionally satisfying to voters living through stagnation. 4. If your mortgage is high, your rent is unaffordable and public services still feel stretched, “things are less chaotic” is not enough. That is where much of the frustration around him comes from. Many people expected not just stability, but visible national renewal such as cheaper living costs, faster growth, functioning infrastructure and a stronger sense the country was moving forward again. 5. Some of that impatience is fair. this government has on occasion looked too cautious, too managerial and too reluctant to tell a bigger story about where Britain is heading. But there has also been something unusual about the scale of hostility directed at Starmer personally. At times it has felt less connected to what he has actually done and more to what he represents culturally. 6. He is not a culture war politician. He does not perform outrage naturally. He rarely behaves like politics is entertainment. In a media environment built around emotional intensity, that can ironically make him look weaker than more chaotic figures. 7. The real irony is that many of the same people who said they wanted seriousness and stability after the Johnson and Truss years often seemed strangely underwhelmed once they got it. That may ultimately become Starmer’s political problem and his historical legacy at the same time. He arrived at a moment when Britain desperately needed stabilisation, but in an era where politics increasingly rewards spectacle over restraint. 8. History tends to judge leaders differently once the noise dies down. And there is a reasonable chance Starmer will eventually be viewed less as a failed transformational figure and more as someone who helped stop a period of national political deterioration from becoming something worse. That may not inspire chants or mythology. But after the volatility Britain went through, it may turn out to have mattered more than people currently realise.

So, the same Zack Polanski who falsely claimed hypnosis increases breast size, falsely claimed he was a Red Cross ‘spokesperson’, & failed to pay council tax has now admitted he didn’t vote despite claiming otherwise? If you’re still defending this guy, give your head a wobble.