Thought it worth a seperate thread.

Only one of the contenders who makes me look twice is Lisa Nandy. And yes, perhaps the easiest on the eye but also the one who said the second referendum policy was insanity along with not being associated with the Corbyn project.

For Labour, the next 5 years are not about opposition. Johnson can effectively do what he wants with them relegated to waving their arms in the air. But rebuilding the trust they have lost in the North has to be their number 1 priority.

Nandy is the only one with clean hands. The rest will be just be slaughtered, time and time again, for their part in what happened.

"The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command." - 1984 - George Orwell.

This could of course work against her.I think some influential figures in the Labour movement have asserted that Corbynism must outlive Corbyn and with the membership (Momentum) choosing the new leader it is the model of plausibility that Corbyn MK2 will be appointed.

And then off for a consoling canoodle in his office after.

Absolutely. No doubts about it. Hence why Corbyn has not resigned. And proof if ever more was needed why Labour are so screwed at the moment.

Only note of caution I would urge is that I tend to lean more towards the fact that Brexit was the biggest issue rather than Corbyn. And with Brexit out of the way, then a policy of offering a lot of free stuff might actually resonate.

It only needs a 4% swing in the next election for the Tories to lose their majority. Hence why holding onto those Northern gains has to be the Tories priority.

And to be fair to Johnson, of whom I am not the biggest fan, I thought his speech at the weekend was interesting for the way he thanked people for lending him their votes. Astute. Very astute.

But we will see.

Edited by Matov (17 Dec 2019 11.14am)

"The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command." - 1984 - George Orwell.

Johnson is everything his detractors claim he his but has some smart people around him.

And might well actually prove to be a good PM. He has got the top job now so all the naked ambition stuff might fade a little. Legacy is what counts now and his thoughts will all be now on re-election in 5 years time.

But Labour are in so, so much trouble. Started years ago with UKIP eating into their tribal voting via the Euro elections. At the time, it was largly put down to a protest vote but the deeper issue was that the almost instinctive ticking of the Labour box was broken.

Remember reading some research by Matthew Goodwin that found that once people who voted Labour due to it being a family tradition voted for somebody else, even the once, then they were far more likely to do so in the future. Once that bond had broken, it would never come back.

Labour paid the ultimate price for that. The writing was on the wall in 2015 with the collapse in Scotland catastrophic for them and now...I think it is a definite possibility that Labour implodes. Ceases to exist as it is.

"The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command." - 1984 - George Orwell.

A horrendous option for Labour and if she is effectively shoe-horned into the job, as seems to be the plan by the Momentum types, then Labour splits within a year. I cannot see any way back for them because they are making the same mistake again in terms of pandering to what their membership wants as opposed to the electorate.

There are rumours of a massive rebellion brewing amongst a certain segment of Labour MP's. If they are going to do it then now is the time they need to make it happen before this leadership election is allowed to take place.

Labour could well be nothing more than history by this time next year. The choice for them is simple. Are they the party of Putney or the party of Blythe Valley?

Because the only leadership contender I can see standing a chance of having both under the same umbrella is Nandy. The rest are far to close to SW15.

"The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command." - 1984 - George Orwell.