• Privacy policy
  • T&C’s
  • About Us
    • FAQ
    • Meet the Team
  • Contact us
TLE ONLINE SHOP!
  • TLE
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Opinion
  • Elevenses
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • Film
    • Lifestyle
      • Horoscopes
    • Lottery Results
      • Lotto
      • Thunderball
      • Set For Life
      • EuroMillions
  • Food
    • All Food
    • Recipes
  • Property
  • Travel
  • Tech/Auto
  • JOBS
No Result
View All Result
The London Economic
SUPPORT THE LONDON ECONOMIC
NEWSLETTER
  • TLE
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Opinion
  • Elevenses
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • Film
    • Lifestyle
      • Horoscopes
    • Lottery Results
      • Lotto
      • Thunderball
      • Set For Life
      • EuroMillions
  • Food
    • All Food
    • Recipes
  • Property
  • Travel
  • Tech/Auto
  • JOBS
No Result
View All Result
The London Economic
No Result
View All Result
Home Politics

Diane Abbott: ‘Curtains’ for Keir if Labour loses Batley and Spen

Abbott suggested that the Labour left would swing behind Andy Burnham if he ran for the leadership.

Henry Goodwin by Henry Goodwin
2021-05-20 11:35
in Politics
FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmailWhatsapp

Keir Starmer should resign if Labour loses the Batley and Spen by-election, former home secretary Diane Abbott has said.

Abbott’s intervention comes as Sadiq Khan followed in Andy Burnham’s footsteps in reaching out to the rest of the country, writing in the Yorkshire Post about the need to breach the divide between the north and London.

Just a week after his re-election, Khan visited North Yorkshire on Wednesday – a trip described by his tea as “a clear statement of his intent to build bridges between London and other regions”.

Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, has made clear in recent interviews that he would run for the Labour leadership again should the party lose the next election – with a new column in London’s Evening Standard widely-interpreted as a move to raise his national profile.

The forthcoming Batley and Spen by-election poses a major challenge for Starmer after its MP, Tracy Brabin, was elected mayor of West Yorkshire. The seat has been held by Labour since 1997 – but the party’s majority is slim.

“Support from the large ethnic minority electorate may enable the party to hold the seat and Starmer to hang on as Labour leader,” Abbott said. “But if Labour loses again, it must surely be curtains for him. And then, it may be that Andy Burnham’s time will have come.”

Abbott – a close ally of ex-leader Jeremy Corbyn – suggested the Labour left would swing behind Burnham – despite a leadership challenge being highly unlikely to come from the mayor, who does not hold a parliamentary seat.

RelatedPosts

Liz Truss bashed for dodging BBC interview with Nick Robinson

Supreme Court denies Jeremy Corbyn appeal in libel case

No hosepipe ban at Downing Street, despite Tory calls for rations

NHS waiting list hits record high as backlog soars by 100,000

Writing in the Guardian, Abbott said it must “surely be curtains” if the upcoming by-election is lost – adding that she had renewed faith in a Burnham leadership run.

Burnham was shadow home secretary under Corbyn, and did not take part in the mass resignation and leadership challenge to remove him after the Brexit referendum in 2016. He departed Westminster in 2017 after becoming mayor.

That stance, Abbott said, means he is seen “by the largely pro-Corbyn Labour party activist base as a neutral figure. Becoming mayor of Manchester also enabled Burnham to reinvent himself as a plucky insurgent, rather than a New Labour clone.”

Burnham did run for the leadership in 2010, a race eventually won by Ed Miliband – as did Abbott. “In many ways he was an identikit New Labour apparatchik,” she wrote. 

“But even then, you could see the glimmerings of an effort to shape his own brand, by stressing his “northern-ness.”

Related: Britain throws weight behind Israel’s bombardment of Gaza

Since you are here

Since you are here, we wanted to ask for your help.

Journalism in Britain is under threat. The government is becoming increasingly authoritarian and our media is run by a handful of billionaires, most of whom reside overseas and all of them have strong political allegiances and financial motivations.

Our mission is to hold the powerful to account. It is vital that free media is allowed to exist to expose hypocrisy, corruption, wrongdoing and abuse of power. But we can't do it without you.

If you can afford to contribute a small donation to the site it will help us to continue our work in the best interests of the public. We only ask you to donate what you can afford, with an option to cancel your subscription at any point.

To donate or subscribe to The London Economic, click here.

The TLE shop is also now open, with all profits going to supporting our work.

The shop can be found here.

You can also SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER .

Subscribe to our Newsletter

View our  Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions

Trending on TLE

  • All
  • trending
Abdollah

‘Rescue us’: Afghan teacher begs UK to help him escape Taliban

CHOMSKY: “If Corbyn had been elected, Britain would be pursuing a much more sane course”

What If We Got Rid Of Prisons?

More from TLE

Boris Johnson says Britain just wants a Canada-style deal, or an Australian one failing that

Hypocrisy alert! Tory MP who called for speeding crackdown loses licence for speeding

The Weekly Cocktail Recipe – The Distillery’s Queen Elizabeth II

Liverpool manager opens up about summer transfer plans

Household savings rise by £20.9 billion despite historically low interest rates

The Productivity Puzzle: encouraging a workforce that works

“Atrocious” Spitting Image sketch of Nicola Sturgeon sparks outrage in Scotland

Language of war may deter people seeking mental health support

Priti Patel in ‘glaring’ £20 million PPE lobbying storm

EU proposes £300m fine over Amazon privacy violations

JOBS

FIND MORE JOBS

About Us

TheLondonEconomic.com – Open, accessible and accountable news, sport, culture and lifestyle.

Read more

© 2019 thelondoneconomic.com - TLE, International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2BN. All Rights Reserved.




No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Entertainment
  • Lifestyle
  • Food
  • Travel
  • JOBS
  • More…
    • Elevenses
    • Opinion
    • Property
    • Tech & Auto
  • About Us
    • Meet the Team
    • Privacy policy
  • Contact us

© 2019 thelondoneconomic.com - TLE, International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2BN. All Rights Reserved.