[Tubby Isaacs]

I mean, what? Labour don't have a candidate. People in Rochdale can vote for who they like

Peston isn't the worst by any means generally, but he's right here with Jon Craig in the "make it close" vanguard.

[Abernathy]

Here is the twat who is apparently going to “unseat” Keir Starmer at the election. Unsurprisingly, he is a fan-boy of the thankfully departed Magic Grandpa.

[davidjay]

Here is the twat who is apparently going to “unseat” Keir Starmer at the election. Unsurprisingly, he is a fan-boy of the thankfully departed Magic Grandpa.

It gets better:

[Abernathy]

Paul Mason’s long article on Substack is worth creating a free Substack membership account to read in full.
I think he is talking about Feinstein here at the beginning of the piece :

https://paulmasonnews.medium.com/the-b ... 48bdce60e2

I was recently alerted to an anti-Semitic post by a participant in the 5,000-strong private Facebook group “Organise Corbyn Inspired Socialist Alliance” (OCISA), which has been formed to unseat Keir Starmer. It reads:
“Starmer is a Right wing Red Tory Zionist Israel paid Scab along with Berger, Smeeth, Coyle, Hodge…”
…followed by a list of Labour MPs, both Jewish and non-Jewish. When challenged by another member of the group, the author replies:
“Starmers wife is Israeli her relations in Israel or all Zionist supporters of Extrem right wing Naitinhau and one or more of Starmer’s wife’s relations or members of Mossad Starmer was could still be MI5” [all errors in the original].
The author spends much of his time on Facebook posting pro-Russian content, plus conspiracy theories about US biolabs and Hunter Biden. He predicts a new American civil war between “Democrats Zionist Vs Republican Nazis”. He habitually slanders Ukrainians as Nazis and is obsessively hostile to President Zelensky. He is, in short, a long way down the rabbit hole of red-brown politics — where the conspiracy theories and obsessions of the far left and far right are becoming merged.
But who has led him there? Who has given him permission to believe his politics are in any way “left”? What kind of politics does his brand of conspiratorial folklore represent? And what should the labour movement be doing to fight it?

[Abernathy]

Starmer to be “parachuted into a safe seat”? Safer than his own Holborn & St Pancras seat, where he has a majority of just short of 28,000 ?

Hilarious.

[Spoonman]

He is, in short, a long way down the rabbit hole of red-brown politics...

I'm not 100% sure what entails red-brown politics, but that colour combo really needs to be seen at A&E urgently.

Anyhoo, this Feinstein guy & his supporters sound like the typical "won the argument" gobshites that have plagued the British left-wing for decades. They've no real fight to actually win any election or seat, because it's always easier to be in the politics of "pure" protest rather than actually get involved in the actual dirty work where you have to back up your words and be prepared to either compromise or change when the evidence changes on the ground you stand on and the air that you breathe. That's why they pull stunts like this - they've no hope of actually achieving what they're claiming what they'd do, other than to feed their own narcissism from the naivety of others.

[Andy McDandy]

He is, in short, a long way down the rabbit hole of red-brown politics...

Like a political taint, or Biffin Bridge. Halfway between cock and arsehole, and no real use.

[Yug]

I'm not 100% sure what entails red-brown politics...

Red flag to the left, brown shirt to the right

[Tubby Isaacs]

Starmer to be “parachuted into a safe seat”? Safer than his own Holborn & St Pancras seat, where he has a majority of just short of 28,000 ?

Hilarious.

Yeah. The obvious inspiration for something like this is Galloway in 2005 in Bethnal Green and Bow. Oona King in 2001 got 50.5%. and lost 16.5% to lose to Galloway by 1.9%. This was in an election where Labour lost 5.5% nationally.

Starmer starts on 64.5%, and Labour aren't going to lose 5.5% nationally. So even if Andrew Feinstein manages to acquire Galloway's 2005 profile and campaigning skill, it's very unlikely he could win.

[Tubby Isaacs]

And of course the Leader of the Opposition deserting his seat would be absurd, whatever the margin. "Yes, we're going to win but I've had to get a new seat because an independent called Andrew Feinstein is running".

I see Feinstein works with Glenn Greenwald on Declassified. Well, that's the principled opposition to genocide covered then.

[Bones McCoy]

I'm waiting for the "Starmer fails again" messages on Xitter.

[Oboogie]

Already started, Bones, apparently fewer people voted Labour in Wellingborough than in 2019.

NB. I've not bothered to fact check that claim because, even if true, I know it's meaningless as turnout in in a by-elections is always lower than a GE.

[Crabcakes]

Starmer is now Labour’s most successful leader ever at winning by-elections. So yeah, that Tory GE win is looking ever-more nailed on.

[Andy McDandy]

Already started, Bones, apparently fewer people voted Labour in Wellingborough than in 2019.

NB. I've not bothered to fact check that claim because, even if true, I know it's meaningless as turnout in in a by-elections is always lower than a GE.

There's a reason psephology is an 'ology' - it's fuzzier than a uniformed copper doing Supergrass on the karaoke, accompanied by former Pop Will Eat Itself drummer come vintage car restorer Fuzz.

It's a bit like random sports 'facts' - Team A have never won away to Team B on a wet Wednesday night since 1922 and so on. If they fit your prediction, and your prediction bears out, they're rock solid proof you were right. If not, they're pub trivia.

[Tubby Isaacs]

To quote Alan Partridge, it's not a precise science like biology. But there's good psephology and bad psephology. Lots of the bad psephology we're getting is from an unholy alliance of Corbynites, rightwing Tories and media who want to talk up a contest.

[soulboy]

Already started, Bones, apparently fewer people voted Labour in Wellingborough than in 2019.

NB. I've not bothered to fact check that claim because, even if true, I know it's meaningless as turnout in in a by-elections is always lower than a GE.

Whaddayaknow? Jezza Corbyn's Barmy Army can't even get that one right.

2024 Labour Gen Kitchen 13,844

2019 Labour Andrea Watts 13,737

[Tubby Isaacs]

Yep.

[davidjay]

I'm beginning to think that has the most important characteristic a politician can possess - he's lucky. He's come up against the three worst Prime Ministers of all time, the figurehead for his opponents inside the party is the most useful idiot imaginable and even this week, after possibly the worst few days of his leadership, we got two by-elections that are now the story.

[mattomac]

Thing is you could say that recession news is lucky, and these by elections are lucky but Labour put the effort into the by elections and evidently the Tories have no idea on how to grow the economy that isn’t outside their own political bubble.

We are in recess and Starmer visits both seats, he also does some PR phone opps, Sunak doesn’t visit either (Wellingborough unsurprising to be fair) and some reason goes and does 3 photo opps in Devon and Cornwall, one in an empty bakery, one in an empty sports hall and the only one he happens to enter the public space is at 6am on a Friday morning in Plymouth. He also by at least 4pm had not tweeted a message about the by elections.

Bit more effort in Kingswood and it could have been held perhaps. (The swing would have still been big but there is a narrative to pitch there). He is supposed to be excited to campaign and get out there 3 days a week but you have to meet people in that, not just businesses that want a promotion. He even went on local news and it was bad as you expected.

They will no doubt have targeted Starmer’s calls yesterday but they will have potentially gone for switchers, those switchers will now be spreading the message that at least Starmer phoned us up on election day, where are the Tories?



You make your own luck.

[Oboogie]

I'm beginning to think that has the most important characteristic a politician can possess - he's lucky.

You may think those by-election wins are down to luck, I know they are down to hard work - not least by Starmer.
When Starmer won the leadership he inherited the Labour Party in the worst state it'd been in living memory and he's about to have the job of rescuing Britain when it's in the worst state it's been in since 1940.
I count amongst my blessings that I'm not cursed with Starmer's 'luck'.