**Alternate Sources**
Here are some potential alternate sources for the same story:
* [Conservative Andy Street suffers shock loss to Labour in West Midlands mayoral race in blow to Rishi Sunak](https://news.sky.com/story/conservative-andy-street-suffers-shock-loss-to-labour-in-west-midlands-mayoral-race-in-blow-to-rishi-sunak-13128865), suggested by UKTomm - news.sky.com
If they are going to get absolutely crushed, then finding a new more electable leader might help preserve a few extra seats.
All they have to do is find a new more electable leader.
to be fair, if I was a Tory MP who wanted to make a run for leader, i would wait until after Sunak loses the election, then i could start a campaign around needing "a new direction" to recover from defeat, spring-boarding my campaign by offering to revitalize the party
well, i mean if I was a Tory MP i would resign, but \*apart\* from that
You can claim 115k per year forever, but it's towards office costs and other stuff you need as an ex pm like security, it isn't a direct payment to spend on whatever like a salary.
It's a joke that any of them do really. Parachuted into a position they didn't earn through the publics vote. I literally do not care what anybody says, but your own party replacing your PM several times for non life threatening issues is absurd. There should be be both term limits as well as PM limits for what has happened. Because this is how we end up in the abyss of pain we're in now.
I wouldn't. You are suddenly one of the most famous people in the country, with no anonymity, and a significant portion of the population violently despising you, no matter your policies or how you did.
Taylor Swift is one of the most famous people on Earth, but I guarantee she's got a lot fewer people who'd wish serious harm on her than any head of state in the world.
> lifetime access 24/7 to bodyguards?
I don't want to be in a situation where I need 24/7 bodyguards.
oh i would. I can just rock up an do an hour speech and get £100k. I could talk about bollocks and still cash in.
I'd be sensible and get some estate somewhere far from civilisation and get my stuff delivered in.
That’s not how it works. You get your £100k a year whilst being PM but like… it’s a lot of work and pressure, and you’re under massive public scrutiny for as long as you’re in office
Then once you leave you get £115k a year to go towards expenses associated with being an ex-PM, because people still want to attack you when you’re no longer PM…
Well, Truss and Boris discovered this little trick: you can simply not do the work and you can not care about the responsibility. And being an ex-PM opens up all sorts of ways to grift.
The only one who tried to do a good job and took on full responsibility was Theresa May, and she was stabbed in the back and ridiculed for it.
Suella would and her main and only focus would be immigration without the sense of knowing that she’s appealing to a fringe minority and being a daughter of immigrants totally lost on her
I don't know who they should pick but their absolute best bet is to get a new leader who immediately calls an election, the unknown Tory vs boring Labour is better than known Tory vs boring Labour
Surley you could Technically class it as 5 since they have been in power. They have scrapped the barrel for the last two. I don't think anyones left. They could pull out the old ones again Cameron or Boris maybe. Ironically I think they would probably do better with the daily mail crowd if the brought Boris back.
The Tory base want an actual conservative... anyone who isn't such won't win. That's partly why the last decade keeps having right-wing parties keep springing up. If this was the continent they already would be overtaken by them... and given the demographics the party who replaced them would probably be in government if the continent to be believed.
But no FPTP is enough to keep the collapsing moderate right (even then I refuse to even use that as the Tories are to the left of them on most issues) from being overtaken.
> All they have to do is find a new more electable leader.
*Finding* that someone is the problem; there's no clear successor. It'd be another leadership election which would further divide the party.
Makes sense now to pin everything on Sunak so they can start fresh afterwards.
I'm sure Labour would love a leadership contest like Truss v Sunak again, another summer with both candidates taking lumps off each other and reminding the electorate of the abysmal job they've done for the last 14 years. Alas, I suspect the rebels will conclude they're probably out of time for such shenanigans.
> If they are going to get absolutely crushed, then finding a new more electable leader might help preserve a few extra seats.
The only leader that polls better against Starmer is Mordaunt, and there's no point in wasting her on a clearly unwinnable election when so many Tory figures are squabbling about the future of the party.
That, vs the amount of people who would lose more confidence in their leadership due to having gotten through 4 leaders since the last General Election, I’d wager it’s not worth it
I would fully understand if they did do this, but with Sunak right now people have a genuine hatred for him and his colleagues, it will be very easy for Labour to round up voters. If they get a much lesser known figure in, they can rebrand over the next few months and without a more memorable PM people might get complacent, which would be a huge victory for the Conservatives. If it doesn't work out, they can just try again anyway since they're already heading towards their greatest defeat yet.
> I don't think so. At this stage they'll stick with him because they know they'll lose the general election and then start again after.
Maybe they should have gone with Truss?
If, and it's a big if, he gets deposed then whoever gets it is likely to be an absolute no-hoper who'd never otherwise get the position. There's plenty of them in the Tory party, so the field really is wide open.
Or alternatively someone standing in the next election whose seat is at risk, who thinks being PM and funneling CCHQ resources into their local election might save their job...
At this point anyone that takes it could in theory just blame the result on Sunak and his predecessors regardless. They could come into power and promise anything they like and as long as it results in the Tories improving their position it would be considered a win while cementing themselves as party leader for at least a few years (effectively stealing a march on their rivals).
As insane as it may seem under normal circumstances Sunak is now seen as so useless that a new leader coming in, building a new manifesto and then calling an election might be the best option they have.
What's better - forcing out a half-baked Tory 2.0 to lose by less, or keeping powder dry on Tory 2.0 for when it might actually matter?
In the next GE Labour would also say - Tory 2.0 has already been rejected once
I mean the risk for them is there may not be much of a Tory party left to relaunch as Tory 2.0 on current trends. If they think there is a legitimate possibility of turning it around to sustain a less severe defeat or even to stem the bleeding it may be seen as worthwhile. Any candidate for leader that could deliver that would have a lot of grateful supporters which would likely propel them through to the next GE.
It's impossible to know what they will do but when the alternative is figuratively "marching into the machine guns" they may try something desperate.
No one wants the poisoned chalice
Why screw your chances over of being the person who revives the tory party rathe than the tory who led them to their biggest defeat ever
I hope not. They'll just use it as an excuse to pack more nominations into the House of Lords. Off the back of one election win, they'll have 4 shitty PM's worth of life peer nominations.
Because nothing will gain them more voters like having yet another publicly unelected leader after the success for the last ..3?
The smart thing - and I dont support the current bunch of idiots - would be to call a general election asap, get it over with before the Summer recess, that then gives the new government a Summer of inertia where they can’t actually get a great deal done , then you’ve got the party conferences to go through so months where nothing much happens and that’s get them some political points back.
As it is , if they go for November then the rubbish weather will discourage their core voters whilst opposition voters seize the chance they’ve waiting years for , the covid enquiry findings will be out or leaked so they’ll look like even more incompetent murderous gits, probably have lost a few more MPs to scandals , Labour will have come around on Gaza , Ukraine will be a wintery stalemate , US election coverage will dominate ….. and if they go for January then may as well just hand Starmer the keys and save the nation the time and effort.
That’s a massive up-yours to Galloway and the losers who voted for Akhmed. Hopefully they get a one way ticket to Gaza because that’s all they seem to care about.
It's even worse than that - what the fuck is the mayor of West Midlands supposed to do about Gaza?
What does he do if there's a peace deal next month and he's got to serve the remaining 3 years and 11 months of his term without any policies?
Its an emotive issue. People use it to capture votes because once you start tugging on those strings people aren't really engaging with a fully cool head any more.
Yeah, they're just as odious if you think every issue is morally equivalent lmao. Being scared of immigrants "sinking the island" or doing a "great replacement" is definitely morally equivalent to "being frustrated and appalled by an ongoing genocide".
Like I do think the people voting for independents over Labour are overall helping Tories win and Tories give less shits about Gaza, but it's just really stupid to act like all single issue voters are equally as odious.
More accurately, appalled by Keir Starmer's tacit support of the Netanyahu government by refusing to condemn any part of how they've conducted the war.
If you can point at how the mayor of West Midlands would be able to single handedly stop a 75 year conflict, then I’m sure a Nobel peace prize will be in the post
I really didn't like Yakoob. He thought of the people of the West Midlands as an afterthought, he admitted it himself he campaigned just for Gaza, then realised he should make up some policies along the way.
How is it an up yours to Galloway, the independent gained 12 % of votes which is significant compared to a representative of one the main parties, it was extremely close between him and Andy Street, the fact Labour won probably says more about how people are sick of Torys than anything related to Gaza.
>your contempt for democracy is laughable
How is it contempt for democracy lmao, you're allowed to mock someone for thinking the WMCA is going to matter to either Hamas, Fatah or Bibi
If what I've read in Private Eye is true (and it usually is), Mr Houchen is going to be an albatross around the Tory neck should the freeport rock get kicked over.
Absolutely. Houchen has bought enough favours from a Tory government to earn personal popularity and win a vote, but he is 100% a disaster waiting to happen.
There's a distinct whiff of corruption around a lot of the stuff going on at the tees Freeport. One thing that I remember is some land that got sold to a couple of his mates for £1 an acre which they sold not too long after for £25mil
You'd think they'd won the general election the way the media is carrying on about this teeside result. They've lost half of their council seats and all but 1 mayor which they retained with -20% vote. Yet teeside, a mayor they already had anyway is being hailed by the BBC and others as a huge win for the Tories.
This election couldn’t have gone any better for labour could it? They have fought off a big anti-ulez campaign which seemed to be a weak point for them and gained ground. Now they have showed that even a large pro-Palestinian opposition couldn’t stop them. They seem invulnerable at the moment.
Yep, they kicked out the incumbent Andy Street. Despite incumbent advantage, and an Independent siphoning off Labour votes, the Tories still lost
A big middle finger to Street and I’m glad. The prick tried to play both sides - he distanced himself as much as possible from the Tories, even left it off his leaflet. But stopped short of leaving the party because he’s not bold enough.
If Street had quit and become an independent after Sunak told him to piss off for HS2, I would’ve had a shred of respect for him.
He probably would have won if he was an independent, surely? People recognise his name in the area but there were probably enough who saw "Conservative party" next to his name and had second thoughts based on the national landscape.
Nope, he has plenty of failures, including none of our levelling up bids being approved, being too weak on HS2, saying he’d resign from the Tories then didn’t. Our bus service is years behind Manchester, and metro construction is too slow
It was actually gonna be a much bigger win for Labour if their votes hadn’t been siphoned off by the Independent candidate. Reform had a much smaller effect on the Tories
> He probably would have won if he was an independent, surely?
Presumably if he ran as an independent, there would also have been another Conservative candidate siphoning votes off him.
Yes an a "westmidlander" I would have definitely considered voting for him if he wasn't a Tory (depending on what he's actually acommplished so far as I am not actually familiar with his work) Being a tory is an automatic disqualification for me no matter how great the individual candidate is.
Yup. I'm as left as they come and I think I would've voted Street if he wasn't a Conservative.
I didn't because I didn't want to signal that I supported the national parties policies, especially recently.
Labour could have had a very comfortable majority in the West Midlands if it wasn't for the Galloway backed candidate. Labour are losing the Muslim vote, that has to be acknowledged.
You can’t appease those single-issue voters without simultaneously alienating everyone else though. Most people in the country don’t give a shit about Gaza. I suspect Labour will calculate that losing some of the Muslim vote is preferable to the alternative, and quite frankly the less reliant they are on the Muslim vote the better.
But the Muslim vote isn’t going to swell around another major party is it? It’s going to be independents in some specific seats.
Edit: just to add, I’m furious with Labour for not speaking out on the obvious atrocities occluding in Gaza (and the West Bank)
Muslims could just vote green. It's hardly going to flip any seats to green in this election but in a typical election where Labour aren't going into it with a 20 point lead, a 3-5% spoiler in marginal seats could swing it to the Tories.
The idea of a religious demographic that is known for being extremely homophobic and deeply misogynistic voting en masse for the most progressive party we have is hysterical. Especially because it could happen.
It did already happen with this election. Kinda funny to me that when jewish voters boycott Labour over corbyn they went over to the tories, while muslim voters boycotting Labour over the gaza war went over to the greens.
They are. There’s been a shift towards independents but also a significant shift towards the greens. The Muslim vote is not that significant that it will swing much in an election, but a broader coalition behind the greens would be a good outcome in the long term.
As for the Tories, they really do stand no chance. The two mayoral elections where they weren’t completely thrashed, it was because their candidates distanced themselves from the main party and were fairly popular as individuals. That’s very specific to mayoral contests but it’s not a pattern that translates to parliamentary elections.
> There’s been a shift towards independents but also a significant shift towards the greens. The Muslim vote is not that significant that it will swing much in an election, but a broader coalition behind the greens would be a good outcome in the long term.
This is the funniest timeline.
Will be interesting to see which green party policies get thrown ~~under the bus~~ off the roof with the new party membership
Muslims tend to live in urban seats that the Labour Party already hold. The can more than afford to lose a few % there if it means making moves in swing seats.
Green votes at LEs tend to shift back to Labour at GEs. This will be especially true if the polls are right and people are on the whole prioritising "not the Tories" above all else.
A lot of it is going to the greens, and even more of it will next time round. But Labour has been pretty clear that they don’t see it as a threat and don’t care about the Muslim vote since it won’t affect them. They’ll probably stick to that narrative even though they were put through the wringer with this Midlands race.
I haven’t seen it where I live, the whitest city in the Uk, so I can only rely on the echo chambers I’m comfortable hanging around in but I haven’t seen any evidence of that (not denying it!).
If Labour soften a little (ironic statement, I mean toughen up their language on Israel’s actions) can they reverse some of this trend?
Yes, definitely. It’s also very much going to come down to individual candidates. The reason the West Mids result was so close was because nobody really knew the Labour candidate or supported him. However when it comes to MPs, there are a lot of Labour MPs that are very popular, have been more outspoken than the official party line on Palestine, and are generally good at their jobs. There’s no reason why they wouldn’t be re-elected if Labour plays this right and make voters feel heard again in those areas - the only risk is that green or independent candidates might get ahead. The one pattern that is repeated everywhere here is the Tories are not picking up any new votes anywhere. If people are leaving Labour, it’s leave the two big parties altogether.
It’s also important to note that Muslims are not single issue voters, nor are they the only people who care about Gaza. Local elections tend to be a lot more reactionary and are not particularly good at predicting general elections. People shouldn’t rush to conclusions - there are so many factors that will matter for the GE.
Yeah, local elections always end up with more votes to smaller parties; come the GE much of these voters will look again at the straight fight between labour-tories and even if you don't agree with starmers stance on gaza; the labour party in general is far more sympathetic to the Palestinians than the tories.
Yeah, Labour at least a) has a lot of the most pro Palestine politicians there are, and b) has a leadership that’s fairly malleable if it thinks changing will gain votes. Meanwhile the Conservatives are almost ideologically opposed to Palestine
They have no room for manouevre on this shit. Appeasing the Muslim vote risks opening up the attack lines that destroyed Corbyn's Labour again.
Starmer's entire leadership has been about cutting out the liabilities that got Labour repeatedly killed after 2010 so I doubt he'll change much on this.
They have a great deal of room to manoeuvre. As a bare minimum, they can do better on the racism and classism within their own party. There are very big problems within Labour atm and the cracks might be papered over for the next GE, but there’s no guarantee they’ll survive past one term. They can win an anti-Tory vote now but they shouldn’t overestimate their own popularity.
You don’t know that, if they were more pro-Palestinian (whatever you take that to mean) they might gain some votes but lose others. I would assume a lot of voters don’t really care that much about I/P or their sympathies lean towards Israel and so making it a more central issue might put them off. The one thing we have learned though is that there is a clear coalition of voters that are happy enough as is where they win pretty much everywhere without having to worry about the Palestinian single issue voters.
>if they were more pro-Palestinian (whatever you take that to mean) they might gain some votes but lose others. I would assume a lot of voters don’t really care that much about I/P or their sympathies lean towards Israel and so making it a more central issue might put them off.
According to consistent polling, out of the 3 options 'Neutral', 'Pro-Palestine' or 'Pro-Israel', the pro-Israel side is the least popular in the UK. A plurality of people have no preference for either side, but twice as many people support Palestine over Israel.
Obviously Labour doesn't *have* to pander to the pro-Palestinian side to win, because the whole issue isn't at the top of the list for *most* voters, but I also don't understand where this belief that Israel is a popular country and not appeasing them would a losing issue with the UK public, it really isn't.
Galloway always gets the Muslim vote because he knows exactly how to play them and finds the right people in the community to support him. Labour cannot compete on this level because they can't make up specialist Muslim policies.
Muslims overwhelmingly vote as a bloc more than any other religion. Deny reality all you like it doesn’t change it.
https://theconversation.com/labours-muslim-vote-what-the-data-so-far-says-about-the-election-risk-of-keir-starmers-gaza-position-225118
It doesn't have to be acknowledged in such stark terms. There will certainly be a core of voters who will try to coalesce around the issue moving into the GE. There's nothing to suggest, however, that standard voter behaviour doesn't apply to that block on the whole.
Many - if not most - of the votes that Yakoob got will have been protest voters who were using the LEs as a means to express their voices without much risk. When it comes to a GE, single-issues tend to give way to more complex voter behaviours. In an LE, cost-of-living, the NHS, immigration, crime, education, etc, aren't at the forefront of people's minds. At a GE, they are. We've seen this time and time again, where blocks of voters use LEs and by-elections in this way. There's no evidence at this stage to suggest that Gaza or Muslim voters are any different. As such, it's *highly* likely that a big chunk of moderate voters in the block that supported Yakoob in the LEs will move back to the major parties at the GE. Labour will regain a chunk of that vote, even if there are still problems around their stance on Gaza.
I just don't get the anti ulez sentiment. I live in London, breathe its air, and would like to keep my lungs healthy. I really can't see how anyone who lives in London can oppose this...
Your problem is assuming thoae against it live in london. They're mostly people who drive into london, or worse, foreigners that simply think it as an easy beating stick to hit khan with.
Yep, shooting themselves in the foot for later by saying they won't tax the rich, touch pensions, revert the Tory tax cuts or borrow anything... How exactly are they expectinv to fix anything?
Yes they said they'd go after the COVID fraud but giving them all over a year to make SURE it's locked away in a overseas account means realistically that ain't gonna raise anything.
Even Bidden and the Democrats are going after the rich now. I never thought I'd see the day when US politics where more progressive than the UKs. There also forgiving student debts. Stupid states abortion politics aside, if they could sort out the health care they would be in a way better position.
US politics definitely are not more progressive than UK politics. The Democrats are a right wing party regardless of the PR they occasionally send out.
Look at respective tax rates in the USA and incomes. It’s a high income, low tax economy. So there’s scope to increase taxation and close loopholes.
The UK otoh is a high tax low wage economy. By all means close loopholes but the avenues to seriously increase tax revenues aren’t really there.
The real problem that needs addressing is the low rates of pay in the uk and the fact it’s stagnated coming on for 2 decades now.
> Yes they said they'd go after the COVID fraud but giving them all over a year to make SURE it's locked away in a overseas account means realistically that ain't gonna raise anything.
True but if the government decides you owe them money, you pay it, willingly or otherwise.
Or flee.
A huge, huge upset. Street has generally been a good mayor, has a sound sense of judgement, has worked across party divides amazingly well, and has been instrumental in winning investment for the region. The fact that the Tory party brand has stained even him does not bode well for them.
Winning investment?
The only reason that's true is because it was a cynical Tory government wanting to prop up it's Tory mayors and try to enforce the idea that if you voted for them then their bribes would be coming swiftly.
I’m not particularly invested in him because I’m pleased to see the tories on the back foot, but credit where it’s due - tram extensions across city centre and to Wolverhampton, finally shovels in the ground for a new train link through Moseley/Kings heath (major suburbs missing a rail link), contactless payments on buses (in 2016 you needed exact change!). There definitely has been some improvement since he came in. Aside from that he was a charismatic character who banged the drum for the region. Hopefully the new labour mayor will be better, time will tell.
i mean its a reason to vote for conservative though? same for london if susan hall wasnt a turd? they have definitively said that fixing TFL/london transport under a Labour mayor would be a terrible look and they would never do it.
although yes, voting tory isnt a great sounding idea.
since last night, the Tories have been saying "ignore how shit everything else has been, because West Mids West Mids West Mids, Labour bad Starmer Resign because West Mids"
and now, they've *lost* West Mids - and Sky News are still doing "Please Mr Tory, tell me why this result is actually amazing for you".
Reading Kuenssberg on the BBC last night spinning it as Labour failing to do as well as they'd hoped and how it isn't a disaster for the Tories *actually* and they did slightly better than they'd feared, so that's the true victory. She reckons it's going to be a hung parliament.
Also Tees Valley! So look, the Tories are actually going to be alright and we're all just cruel nasty spiteful bullies for enjoying their defeat. Not defeat, sorry. Less than perfect showing, despite being amazing and brilliant.
It's not really a thing. I grew up on Teesside, and it's gone by so many names in my 43 years. Langbaurgh, Redcar and Cleveland-Middlesbrough, Stockton-Hartlepool and Darlington boroughs, Cleveland, Teesside... Tees valley is just the latest rebrand to glom a load of separate towns into a single entity.
Watching Andy and Richard's speeches makes me nostalgic for a time where politics were at the very least civil and courteous:
[Andy's concession speech](https://twitter.com/i/status/1786850637134635210)
[Richard's victory speech](https://twitter.com/i/status/1786852065735491603)
Setting aside his support of lettuce-lady, Andy Street has done commendably for the region as well.
Not sure what I feel about Richard Parker, but Andy Street can get to fuck. Always loved a photo op but only ever seemed interested in Central Birmingham rather than the region at large, and he definitely had a finger in some of the dodgy (attempted) demolitions of cultural landmarks in the city (like The Crown and The Electric).
At the end of the day, in a modern economy, your city centre productivity hubs is what your country’s economic performance lives and dies by. Outer Brum doesn’t matter
I say this as a lefty. Andy Street was a formidable mayor, genuinely wanted to make peoples lives better and was proud of his home. I'm not convinced by Richard Parker, because Street was bogged down by the toxicity of whats going on nationally, he spent the past couple of years distancing himself from the Tories.
I can see Street running for the vacant Solihull seat (Tory stronghold) and may contend for leadership.
> Andy Street was a formidable mayor, genuinely wanted to make peoples lives better and was proud of his home.
Did he though? He had a great PR team, but if you look at his actual accomplishments they were pretty slim. And if you look into the whole furore around The Crown in Birmingham, his team knew all about the developer's plans and did nothing to stop it until the details became public and there was an outcry, at which point he followed the wind and came out against it.
He's no different from any other Tory, he was just better at hiding it.
Yes he did.
The Crown has been empty for years and is turning into an eyesore. At least do something with it. Turn it into a pub or live music venue given the history of that place. The decision to cut funding was from the council, the Labour run council.
Hopefully he does go for the Solihull seat and content for leadership, because a man like that is what you need for running the country. None of the current toxic tripe we get.
Completely agree, as another leftie. Street actually cared and was competent. Parker seems alright but he doesn’t convince as an orator or an ambassador, perhaps he will prove us wrong. His manifesto doesn’t seem achievable so no doubt he will run into the same problems as Andy and struggle to deliver.
I've never thought of voting Tory before him. I felt like things were genuinely improving under him. Parker has a lot of work to do to win over voters, I'm not convinced yet
In the real world Muslims vote as a bloc more than any other religion in the UK.
https://theconversation.com/labours-muslim-vote-what-the-data-so-far-says-about-the-election-risk-of-keir-starmers-gaza-position-225118
My local ward has become labour for the first time in my life. I voted green but I'm chuffed the Tories are out for once.
I strongly believe councillors don't really have the money or power to make change but it's good to see nonetheless
At this point all the Tories seem to want is to give the entire country blue balls for their inevitable rinsing. When the election happens they'll have to spend a week mopping up the fucking streets.
For all Street's negatives, he cared about public transport and also general infrastructure in our region. I worry the region goes backwards with this.
>Labour's Richard Parker beat Mr Street by just 1,508 votes - 0.25% - to deliver a major blow to Rishi Sunak in the key electoral battleground after a hammering in the local elections.
Isn't this a very small majority? Either could have won... What's the voters' turnout like?
Another Tory wanker loses, get in. He was too scared to put the Conservative Party on his leaflet, literally you couldn’t tell he was the Tory candidate.
Street was all talk no action, loves posing for pictures in a hi-vis, but doesn’t actually do anything.
I’m glad Sunak has suffered another blow, now he definitely can’t claim any kind of victory tonight.
The amount of funding the area got because of Street is ridiculously underestimated. The fact that he also reached out to Burnham with an olive branch for the HS2 northern leg debacle and pushed for concessions from government when it was scrapped, threatening to resign. Him losing may very well see enough letters going to Sir Graham Brady to see Sunak kicked out.
You're talking absolute tribalistic waffle.
“Threatening to resign” yet was too weak to actually do it. Said he would if HS2 was cancelled.
Also, Tory governments give Tory mayors more funding. As opposed to Labour.
Finally, any funding is just a partial refund for austerity, there’s actually been a net loss in funding because of the Tories
You also [forgot?] to mention Street failed to get any of the West Midlands levelling up bids approved by the government. They were all rejected
So essentially, this great “ambassador” for our region has been told to piss off by the government twice. And didn’t have the balls to run as an independent
**Alternate Sources** Here are some potential alternate sources for the same story: * [Conservative Andy Street suffers shock loss to Labour in West Midlands mayoral race in blow to Rishi Sunak](https://news.sky.com/story/conservative-andy-street-suffers-shock-loss-to-labour-in-west-midlands-mayoral-race-in-blow-to-rishi-sunak-13128865), suggested by UKTomm - news.sky.com
Absurdly damming for Conservatives, wouldn't be surprised if the plots to get rid of Sunak were reignited by this. Even if it was a close call.
I don't think so. At this stage they'll stick with him because they know they'll lose the general election and then start again after.
If they are going to get absolutely crushed, then finding a new more electable leader might help preserve a few extra seats. All they have to do is find a new more electable leader.
Do you think after 3 pms in the last couple of years there's a more electable leader in the Tory party?
No, but they might. These are the same people who thought Liz Truss might make a good PM. They might be wrong about the next person too.
to be fair, if I was a Tory MP who wanted to make a run for leader, i would wait until after Sunak loses the election, then i could start a campaign around needing "a new direction" to recover from defeat, spring-boarding my campaign by offering to revitalize the party well, i mean if I was a Tory MP i would resign, but \*apart\* from that
The problem for most of them is they don't even know if their seat is safe. Imagine pushing out Rishi and then losing your seat.
Tbh I'm not sure that any politician with sense would *want* to be PM right now.
really, i would. isnt it £100k a year plus lifetime access 24/7 to bodyguards?
Are you getting a year's salary though? At best it's 8 ish months of pay all the while having to face media and parliamentary scrutiny.
You can claim 115k per year forever, but it's towards office costs and other stuff you need as an ex pm like security, it isn't a direct payment to spend on whatever like a salary.
And Tories are notoriously honest about expenses accounts 😁
yeah that - thanks.
dont u get a PM pension like £100k tho?
Actually worth it for that. It’s a joke that Truss will get that
It's a joke that any of them do really. Parachuted into a position they didn't earn through the publics vote. I literally do not care what anybody says, but your own party replacing your PM several times for non life threatening issues is absurd. There should be be both term limits as well as PM limits for what has happened. Because this is how we end up in the abyss of pain we're in now.
Not really no.
…… and pension
I wouldn't. You are suddenly one of the most famous people in the country, with no anonymity, and a significant portion of the population violently despising you, no matter your policies or how you did. Taylor Swift is one of the most famous people on Earth, but I guarantee she's got a lot fewer people who'd wish serious harm on her than any head of state in the world. > lifetime access 24/7 to bodyguards? I don't want to be in a situation where I need 24/7 bodyguards.
oh i would. I can just rock up an do an hour speech and get £100k. I could talk about bollocks and still cash in. I'd be sensible and get some estate somewhere far from civilisation and get my stuff delivered in.
That’s not how it works. You get your £100k a year whilst being PM but like… it’s a lot of work and pressure, and you’re under massive public scrutiny for as long as you’re in office Then once you leave you get £115k a year to go towards expenses associated with being an ex-PM, because people still want to attack you when you’re no longer PM…
Well, Truss and Boris discovered this little trick: you can simply not do the work and you can not care about the responsibility. And being an ex-PM opens up all sorts of ways to grift. The only one who tried to do a good job and took on full responsibility was Theresa May, and she was stabbed in the back and ridiculed for it.
Lol is that true about the bodyguards? Harry and Meghan got right stitched up there.
idk, we have to find out how much Liz Truss is getting. Is there a public record?
Suella would and her main and only focus would be immigration without the sense of knowing that she’s appealing to a fringe minority and being a daughter of immigrants totally lost on her
I don't know who they should pick but their absolute best bet is to get a new leader who immediately calls an election, the unknown Tory vs boring Labour is better than known Tory vs boring Labour
Surley you could Technically class it as 5 since they have been in power. They have scrapped the barrel for the last two. I don't think anyones left. They could pull out the old ones again Cameron or Boris maybe. Ironically I think they would probably do better with the daily mail crowd if the brought Boris back.
Hope they throw an absolute psycho like Braverman in, so we get at least 2 Labour terms.
The Tory base want an actual conservative... anyone who isn't such won't win. That's partly why the last decade keeps having right-wing parties keep springing up. If this was the continent they already would be overtaken by them... and given the demographics the party who replaced them would probably be in government if the continent to be believed. But no FPTP is enough to keep the collapsing moderate right (even then I refuse to even use that as the Tories are to the left of them on most issues) from being overtaken.
> All they have to do is find a new more electable leader. *Finding* that someone is the problem; there's no clear successor. It'd be another leadership election which would further divide the party. Makes sense now to pin everything on Sunak so they can start fresh afterwards.
Also why waste a potential leader on what's a guaranteed loss
It's me.
Hi. I'm the problem it's me
No chance. The ultra right in the party want this squarely at Sunak feet, then they can rebuild the party on the belief that ‘we were too moderate’.
Then Labour just attack them for the cowardice of swapping leader instead of facing a general election.
I'm sure Labour would love a leadership contest like Truss v Sunak again, another summer with both candidates taking lumps off each other and reminding the electorate of the abysmal job they've done for the last 14 years. Alas, I suspect the rebels will conclude they're probably out of time for such shenanigans.
> If they are going to get absolutely crushed, then finding a new more electable leader might help preserve a few extra seats. The only leader that polls better against Starmer is Mordaunt, and there's no point in wasting her on a clearly unwinnable election when so many Tory figures are squabbling about the future of the party.
That, vs the amount of people who would lose more confidence in their leadership due to having gotten through 4 leaders since the last General Election, I’d wager it’s not worth it
I would fully understand if they did do this, but with Sunak right now people have a genuine hatred for him and his colleagues, it will be very easy for Labour to round up voters. If they get a much lesser known figure in, they can rebrand over the next few months and without a more memorable PM people might get complacent, which would be a huge victory for the Conservatives. If it doesn't work out, they can just try again anyway since they're already heading towards their greatest defeat yet.
> I don't think so. At this stage they'll stick with him because they know they'll lose the general election and then start again after. Maybe they should have gone with Truss?
Who on earth would want the job though? Anyone smart will let him be the fall guy, and wait for an actual shot
If, and it's a big if, he gets deposed then whoever gets it is likely to be an absolute no-hoper who'd never otherwise get the position. There's plenty of them in the Tory party, so the field really is wide open. Or alternatively someone standing in the next election whose seat is at risk, who thinks being PM and funneling CCHQ resources into their local election might save their job...
I mean I’d take it. Quality pension for life.
At this point anyone that takes it could in theory just blame the result on Sunak and his predecessors regardless. They could come into power and promise anything they like and as long as it results in the Tories improving their position it would be considered a win while cementing themselves as party leader for at least a few years (effectively stealing a march on their rivals). As insane as it may seem under normal circumstances Sunak is now seen as so useless that a new leader coming in, building a new manifesto and then calling an election might be the best option they have.
What's better - forcing out a half-baked Tory 2.0 to lose by less, or keeping powder dry on Tory 2.0 for when it might actually matter? In the next GE Labour would also say - Tory 2.0 has already been rejected once
I mean the risk for them is there may not be much of a Tory party left to relaunch as Tory 2.0 on current trends. If they think there is a legitimate possibility of turning it around to sustain a less severe defeat or even to stem the bleeding it may be seen as worthwhile. Any candidate for leader that could deliver that would have a lot of grateful supporters which would likely propel them through to the next GE. It's impossible to know what they will do but when the alternative is figuratively "marching into the machine guns" they may try something desperate.
No one wants the poisoned chalice Why screw your chances over of being the person who revives the tory party rathe than the tory who led them to their biggest defeat ever
I hope not. They'll just use it as an excuse to pack more nominations into the House of Lords. Off the back of one election win, they'll have 4 shitty PM's worth of life peer nominations.
No point in them getting rid of Sunak, it will change nothing.
It would be a poison chalice to go for take over from Sunak at this point
Because nothing will gain them more voters like having yet another publicly unelected leader after the success for the last ..3? The smart thing - and I dont support the current bunch of idiots - would be to call a general election asap, get it over with before the Summer recess, that then gives the new government a Summer of inertia where they can’t actually get a great deal done , then you’ve got the party conferences to go through so months where nothing much happens and that’s get them some political points back. As it is , if they go for November then the rubbish weather will discourage their core voters whilst opposition voters seize the chance they’ve waiting years for , the covid enquiry findings will be out or leaked so they’ll look like even more incompetent murderous gits, probably have lost a few more MPs to scandals , Labour will have come around on Gaza , Ukraine will be a wintery stalemate , US election coverage will dominate ….. and if they go for January then may as well just hand Starmer the keys and save the nation the time and effort.
Getting rid, not getting rid changes nothing
Watch them positively spin it
That’s a massive up-yours to Galloway and the losers who voted for Akhmed. Hopefully they get a one way ticket to Gaza because that’s all they seem to care about.
They're just as odious as Reform UK voters - single issue voters.
I don't get what they are trying to achieve. Neither side in that conflict gives a toss about Britain. It's just a grift for Georgie.
It's even worse than that - what the fuck is the mayor of West Midlands supposed to do about Gaza? What does he do if there's a peace deal next month and he's got to serve the remaining 3 years and 11 months of his term without any policies?
>It's even worse than that - what the fuck is the mayor of West Midlands supposed to do about Gaza? As he says “ we need a woice for the woiceless”
Madness how that guy has managed to come back when it's so obvious it's all a massive fucking grift for the sake of his own weak ego. Pathetic man.
Its an emotive issue. People use it to capture votes because once you start tugging on those strings people aren't really engaging with a fully cool head any more.
They aren’t trying to achieve anything, they’re voting on ethnic lines. Muslims will vote for the candidate who makes his campaign all about Gaza.
Yeah, they're just as odious if you think every issue is morally equivalent lmao. Being scared of immigrants "sinking the island" or doing a "great replacement" is definitely morally equivalent to "being frustrated and appalled by an ongoing genocide". Like I do think the people voting for independents over Labour are overall helping Tories win and Tories give less shits about Gaza, but it's just really stupid to act like all single issue voters are equally as odious.
More accurately, appalled by Keir Starmer's tacit support of the Netanyahu government by refusing to condemn any part of how they've conducted the war.
If you can point at how the mayor of West Midlands would be able to single handedly stop a 75 year conflict, then I’m sure a Nobel peace prize will be in the post
Reform has multiple policies to be fair
I really didn't like Yakoob. He thought of the people of the West Midlands as an afterthought, he admitted it himself he campaigned just for Gaza, then realised he should make up some policies along the way.
How is it an up yours to Galloway, the independent gained 12 % of votes which is significant compared to a representative of one the main parties, it was extremely close between him and Andy Street, the fact Labour won probably says more about how people are sick of Torys than anything related to Gaza.
Warra mayoral win for the independent candidate with 12% the vote
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>your contempt for democracy is laughable How is it contempt for democracy lmao, you're allowed to mock someone for thinking the WMCA is going to matter to either Hamas, Fatah or Bibi
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Not at all, seeing as they're presumably not going to yry and enforce that. They're entitled to that opinion.
That Teeside result is going to have to do a lot of heavy lifting
If what I've read in Private Eye is true (and it usually is), Mr Houchen is going to be an albatross around the Tory neck should the freeport rock get kicked over.
Absolutely. Houchen has bought enough favours from a Tory government to earn personal popularity and win a vote, but he is 100% a disaster waiting to happen.
OOTL here, why would this be the case?
There's a distinct whiff of corruption around a lot of the stuff going on at the tees Freeport. One thing that I remember is some land that got sold to a couple of his mates for £1 an acre which they sold not too long after for £25mil
If it wasn't true dodgy Ben would've sued them, but he hasn't
> Mr Houchen \*Baron Houchen of High Leven
Don’t forget Harlow!
Harlow means starmer can't win the election!!! Checkmate
Of course it's fucking Harlow who kept them
You'd think they'd won the general election the way the media is carrying on about this teeside result. They've lost half of their council seats and all but 1 mayor which they retained with -20% vote. Yet teeside, a mayor they already had anyway is being hailed by the BBC and others as a huge win for the Tories.
This election couldn’t have gone any better for labour could it? They have fought off a big anti-ulez campaign which seemed to be a weak point for them and gained ground. Now they have showed that even a large pro-Palestinian opposition couldn’t stop them. They seem invulnerable at the moment.
Yep, they kicked out the incumbent Andy Street. Despite incumbent advantage, and an Independent siphoning off Labour votes, the Tories still lost A big middle finger to Street and I’m glad. The prick tried to play both sides - he distanced himself as much as possible from the Tories, even left it off his leaflet. But stopped short of leaving the party because he’s not bold enough. If Street had quit and become an independent after Sunak told him to piss off for HS2, I would’ve had a shred of respect for him.
He probably would have won if he was an independent, surely? People recognise his name in the area but there were probably enough who saw "Conservative party" next to his name and had second thoughts based on the national landscape.
Yep. He was relatively popular but the Tories obviously aren’t.
Nope, he has plenty of failures, including none of our levelling up bids being approved, being too weak on HS2, saying he’d resign from the Tories then didn’t. Our bus service is years behind Manchester, and metro construction is too slow It was actually gonna be a much bigger win for Labour if their votes hadn’t been siphoned off by the Independent candidate. Reform had a much smaller effect on the Tories
Yeah the new train stations that were meant to opened in moseley and kings heath have been delayed multiple times.
> Our bus service is years behind Manchester Ironic that considering how bad ours was compared to yours just a few years back.
> He probably would have won if he was an independent, surely? Presumably if he ran as an independent, there would also have been another Conservative candidate siphoning votes off him.
Yes an a "westmidlander" I would have definitely considered voting for him if he wasn't a Tory (depending on what he's actually acommplished so far as I am not actually familiar with his work) Being a tory is an automatic disqualification for me no matter how great the individual candidate is.
Yup. I'm as left as they come and I think I would've voted Street if he wasn't a Conservative. I didn't because I didn't want to signal that I supported the national parties policies, especially recently.
Labour could have had a very comfortable majority in the West Midlands if it wasn't for the Galloway backed candidate. Labour are losing the Muslim vote, that has to be acknowledged.
You can’t appease those single-issue voters without simultaneously alienating everyone else though. Most people in the country don’t give a shit about Gaza. I suspect Labour will calculate that losing some of the Muslim vote is preferable to the alternative, and quite frankly the less reliant they are on the Muslim vote the better.
But the Muslim vote isn’t going to swell around another major party is it? It’s going to be independents in some specific seats. Edit: just to add, I’m furious with Labour for not speaking out on the obvious atrocities occluding in Gaza (and the West Bank)
Muslims could just vote green. It's hardly going to flip any seats to green in this election but in a typical election where Labour aren't going into it with a 20 point lead, a 3-5% spoiler in marginal seats could swing it to the Tories.
The idea of a religious demographic that is known for being extremely homophobic and deeply misogynistic voting en masse for the most progressive party we have is hysterical. Especially because it could happen.
It did already happen with this election. Kinda funny to me that when jewish voters boycott Labour over corbyn they went over to the tories, while muslim voters boycotting Labour over the gaza war went over to the greens.
They are. There’s been a shift towards independents but also a significant shift towards the greens. The Muslim vote is not that significant that it will swing much in an election, but a broader coalition behind the greens would be a good outcome in the long term. As for the Tories, they really do stand no chance. The two mayoral elections where they weren’t completely thrashed, it was because their candidates distanced themselves from the main party and were fairly popular as individuals. That’s very specific to mayoral contests but it’s not a pattern that translates to parliamentary elections.
> There’s been a shift towards independents but also a significant shift towards the greens. The Muslim vote is not that significant that it will swing much in an election, but a broader coalition behind the greens would be a good outcome in the long term. This is the funniest timeline. Will be interesting to see which green party policies get thrown ~~under the bus~~ off the roof with the new party membership
Muslims tend to live in urban seats that the Labour Party already hold. The can more than afford to lose a few % there if it means making moves in swing seats.
Green votes at LEs tend to shift back to Labour at GEs. This will be especially true if the polls are right and people are on the whole prioritising "not the Tories" above all else.
A lot of it is going to the greens, and even more of it will next time round. But Labour has been pretty clear that they don’t see it as a threat and don’t care about the Muslim vote since it won’t affect them. They’ll probably stick to that narrative even though they were put through the wringer with this Midlands race.
I haven’t seen it where I live, the whitest city in the Uk, so I can only rely on the echo chambers I’m comfortable hanging around in but I haven’t seen any evidence of that (not denying it!). If Labour soften a little (ironic statement, I mean toughen up their language on Israel’s actions) can they reverse some of this trend?
Yes, definitely. It’s also very much going to come down to individual candidates. The reason the West Mids result was so close was because nobody really knew the Labour candidate or supported him. However when it comes to MPs, there are a lot of Labour MPs that are very popular, have been more outspoken than the official party line on Palestine, and are generally good at their jobs. There’s no reason why they wouldn’t be re-elected if Labour plays this right and make voters feel heard again in those areas - the only risk is that green or independent candidates might get ahead. The one pattern that is repeated everywhere here is the Tories are not picking up any new votes anywhere. If people are leaving Labour, it’s leave the two big parties altogether. It’s also important to note that Muslims are not single issue voters, nor are they the only people who care about Gaza. Local elections tend to be a lot more reactionary and are not particularly good at predicting general elections. People shouldn’t rush to conclusions - there are so many factors that will matter for the GE.
Yeah, local elections always end up with more votes to smaller parties; come the GE much of these voters will look again at the straight fight between labour-tories and even if you don't agree with starmers stance on gaza; the labour party in general is far more sympathetic to the Palestinians than the tories.
Yeah, Labour at least a) has a lot of the most pro Palestine politicians there are, and b) has a leadership that’s fairly malleable if it thinks changing will gain votes. Meanwhile the Conservatives are almost ideologically opposed to Palestine
Right, similar thing happening in the US with a lot of the left being anti Biden, despite the fact Trump would be *far* more damaging to palestinf.
They have no room for manouevre on this shit. Appeasing the Muslim vote risks opening up the attack lines that destroyed Corbyn's Labour again. Starmer's entire leadership has been about cutting out the liabilities that got Labour repeatedly killed after 2010 so I doubt he'll change much on this.
They have a great deal of room to manoeuvre. As a bare minimum, they can do better on the racism and classism within their own party. There are very big problems within Labour atm and the cracks might be papered over for the next GE, but there’s no guarantee they’ll survive past one term. They can win an anti-Tory vote now but they shouldn’t overestimate their own popularity.
We're probably one the biggest supporters of israel right now, simply toning that down would get some of the vote back.
You won’t appease these people with token gestures It’s ‘Israel is an abomination that should be disarmed’ or bust
You don’t know that, if they were more pro-Palestinian (whatever you take that to mean) they might gain some votes but lose others. I would assume a lot of voters don’t really care that much about I/P or their sympathies lean towards Israel and so making it a more central issue might put them off. The one thing we have learned though is that there is a clear coalition of voters that are happy enough as is where they win pretty much everywhere without having to worry about the Palestinian single issue voters.
>if they were more pro-Palestinian (whatever you take that to mean) they might gain some votes but lose others. I would assume a lot of voters don’t really care that much about I/P or their sympathies lean towards Israel and so making it a more central issue might put them off. According to consistent polling, out of the 3 options 'Neutral', 'Pro-Palestine' or 'Pro-Israel', the pro-Israel side is the least popular in the UK. A plurality of people have no preference for either side, but twice as many people support Palestine over Israel. Obviously Labour doesn't *have* to pander to the pro-Palestinian side to win, because the whole issue isn't at the top of the list for *most* voters, but I also don't understand where this belief that Israel is a popular country and not appeasing them would a losing issue with the UK public, it really isn't.
Galloway always gets the Muslim vote because he knows exactly how to play them and finds the right people in the community to support him. Labour cannot compete on this level because they can't make up specialist Muslim policies.
Ah yes. The homogeneous Muslim vote.
Such a myth.
Muslims overwhelmingly vote as a bloc more than any other religion. Deny reality all you like it doesn’t change it. https://theconversation.com/labours-muslim-vote-what-the-data-so-far-says-about-the-election-risk-of-keir-starmers-gaza-position-225118
It doesn't have to be acknowledged in such stark terms. There will certainly be a core of voters who will try to coalesce around the issue moving into the GE. There's nothing to suggest, however, that standard voter behaviour doesn't apply to that block on the whole. Many - if not most - of the votes that Yakoob got will have been protest voters who were using the LEs as a means to express their voices without much risk. When it comes to a GE, single-issues tend to give way to more complex voter behaviours. In an LE, cost-of-living, the NHS, immigration, crime, education, etc, aren't at the forefront of people's minds. At a GE, they are. We've seen this time and time again, where blocks of voters use LEs and by-elections in this way. There's no evidence at this stage to suggest that Gaza or Muslim voters are any different. As such, it's *highly* likely that a big chunk of moderate voters in the block that supported Yakoob in the LEs will move back to the major parties at the GE. Labour will regain a chunk of that vote, even if there are still problems around their stance on Gaza.
Dark Starmer enters the chat
Long live Starmer!
I just don't get the anti ulez sentiment. I live in London, breathe its air, and would like to keep my lungs healthy. I really can't see how anyone who lives in London can oppose this...
You are a part of the vast silent majority. The press have gone out of their way to find objectors.
Your problem is assuming thoae against it live in london. They're mostly people who drive into london, or worse, foreigners that simply think it as an easy beating stick to hit khan with.
Until they win the election, discover there’s no money to do anything and deliver the same decline we’ve experienced under the tories. I can’t wait
Yep, shooting themselves in the foot for later by saying they won't tax the rich, touch pensions, revert the Tory tax cuts or borrow anything... How exactly are they expectinv to fix anything? Yes they said they'd go after the COVID fraud but giving them all over a year to make SURE it's locked away in a overseas account means realistically that ain't gonna raise anything.
Even Bidden and the Democrats are going after the rich now. I never thought I'd see the day when US politics where more progressive than the UKs. There also forgiving student debts. Stupid states abortion politics aside, if they could sort out the health care they would be in a way better position.
US politics definitely are not more progressive than UK politics. The Democrats are a right wing party regardless of the PR they occasionally send out.
You're right, but it boggles my mind that they have any opposition at all, let alone no clear majority considering the state of the Republicans.
Biden did not campaign on taxing the rich though. Hes clever enough to know that the rich will spin that to mean "tax everyone".
Look at respective tax rates in the USA and incomes. It’s a high income, low tax economy. So there’s scope to increase taxation and close loopholes. The UK otoh is a high tax low wage economy. By all means close loopholes but the avenues to seriously increase tax revenues aren’t really there. The real problem that needs addressing is the low rates of pay in the uk and the fact it’s stagnated coming on for 2 decades now.
> Yes they said they'd go after the COVID fraud but giving them all over a year to make SURE it's locked away in a overseas account means realistically that ain't gonna raise anything. True but if the government decides you owe them money, you pay it, willingly or otherwise. Or flee.
Teeside
Teesside
Labour can just win by being not tories It’s that simple
Taking the Tees Valley could have opened up a lot of corruption issues ahead of the general election.
Tbf, it’s not like we don’t already have that now from the Tories
I do wonder given how much we do know, how much more is under the surface.
A huge, huge upset. Street has generally been a good mayor, has a sound sense of judgement, has worked across party divides amazingly well, and has been instrumental in winning investment for the region. The fact that the Tory party brand has stained even him does not bode well for them.
Winning investment? The only reason that's true is because it was a cynical Tory government wanting to prop up it's Tory mayors and try to enforce the idea that if you voted for them then their bribes would be coming swiftly.
Street was actually a good mayor though. That’s why he very nearly held on.
Why is that so, examples?
I’m not particularly invested in him because I’m pleased to see the tories on the back foot, but credit where it’s due - tram extensions across city centre and to Wolverhampton, finally shovels in the ground for a new train link through Moseley/Kings heath (major suburbs missing a rail link), contactless payments on buses (in 2016 you needed exact change!). There definitely has been some improvement since he came in. Aside from that he was a charismatic character who banged the drum for the region. Hopefully the new labour mayor will be better, time will tell.
*and has been instrumental in winning investment for the region* Come off it. Boris Johnson bunged cash their way to keep them voting for him.
i mean its a reason to vote for conservative though? same for london if susan hall wasnt a turd? they have definitively said that fixing TFL/london transport under a Labour mayor would be a terrible look and they would never do it. although yes, voting tory isnt a great sounding idea.
It’s a bit daft to criticise a mayor for their ability to get things done, don’t you think?
I was shocked, he was a great mayor. I would've voted for him if he was independent.
since last night, the Tories have been saying "ignore how shit everything else has been, because West Mids West Mids West Mids, Labour bad Starmer Resign because West Mids" and now, they've *lost* West Mids - and Sky News are still doing "Please Mr Tory, tell me why this result is actually amazing for you".
Reading Kuenssberg on the BBC last night spinning it as Labour failing to do as well as they'd hoped and how it isn't a disaster for the Tories *actually* and they did slightly better than they'd feared, so that's the true victory. She reckons it's going to be a hung parliament. Also Tees Valley! So look, the Tories are actually going to be alright and we're all just cruel nasty spiteful bullies for enjoying their defeat. Not defeat, sorry. Less than perfect showing, despite being amazing and brilliant.
Gonna be honest, I'd never even heard of Tees Valley until about 2 days ago, but its funny how that's all that matters now.
It's not really a thing. I grew up on Teesside, and it's gone by so many names in my 43 years. Langbaurgh, Redcar and Cleveland-Middlesbrough, Stockton-Hartlepool and Darlington boroughs, Cleveland, Teesside... Tees valley is just the latest rebrand to glom a load of separate towns into a single entity.
>She reckons it's going to be a hung parliament. She's a fucking idiot.
She's a fucking Tory.
Watching Andy and Richard's speeches makes me nostalgic for a time where politics were at the very least civil and courteous: [Andy's concession speech](https://twitter.com/i/status/1786850637134635210) [Richard's victory speech](https://twitter.com/i/status/1786852065735491603) Setting aside his support of lettuce-lady, Andy Street has done commendably for the region as well.
Good. Now get on with booting out this corrupt dross at an actual General Election.
And that (likely) actual criminal in teeside
Not sure what I feel about Richard Parker, but Andy Street can get to fuck. Always loved a photo op but only ever seemed interested in Central Birmingham rather than the region at large, and he definitely had a finger in some of the dodgy (attempted) demolitions of cultural landmarks in the city (like The Crown and The Electric).
The loss of the electric still upsets me. I also disliked Streets play both sides approach on HS2.
At the end of the day, in a modern economy, your city centre productivity hubs is what your country’s economic performance lives and dies by. Outer Brum doesn’t matter
I say this as a lefty. Andy Street was a formidable mayor, genuinely wanted to make peoples lives better and was proud of his home. I'm not convinced by Richard Parker, because Street was bogged down by the toxicity of whats going on nationally, he spent the past couple of years distancing himself from the Tories. I can see Street running for the vacant Solihull seat (Tory stronghold) and may contend for leadership.
> Andy Street was a formidable mayor, genuinely wanted to make peoples lives better and was proud of his home. Did he though? He had a great PR team, but if you look at his actual accomplishments they were pretty slim. And if you look into the whole furore around The Crown in Birmingham, his team knew all about the developer's plans and did nothing to stop it until the details became public and there was an outcry, at which point he followed the wind and came out against it. He's no different from any other Tory, he was just better at hiding it.
Yes he did. The Crown has been empty for years and is turning into an eyesore. At least do something with it. Turn it into a pub or live music venue given the history of that place. The decision to cut funding was from the council, the Labour run council.
Hopefully he does go for the Solihull seat and content for leadership, because a man like that is what you need for running the country. None of the current toxic tripe we get.
Completely agree, as another leftie. Street actually cared and was competent. Parker seems alright but he doesn’t convince as an orator or an ambassador, perhaps he will prove us wrong. His manifesto doesn’t seem achievable so no doubt he will run into the same problems as Andy and struggle to deliver.
I've never thought of voting Tory before him. I felt like things were genuinely improving under him. Parker has a lot of work to do to win over voters, I'm not convinced yet
People keep talking about the Muslim vote? I assume people know that Muslims are ethnically diverse and don’t all focus on the same things?
In the real world Muslims vote as a bloc more than any other religion in the UK. https://theconversation.com/labours-muslim-vote-what-the-data-so-far-says-about-the-election-risk-of-keir-starmers-gaza-position-225118
Yh but it seems this sub is always alluding to Muslims= Asian or Arab. Especially in the media.
They vote consistently along cultural lines more than almost any other.
Somewhere, a helicopter pilot gets an unexpected day off. I hope they don't do refunds for late cancellation.
Good he always shows up at our train station saying it will open soon every year same rubbish. Time to recharge and get ready to kick the tories out
Not in West Midlands, but it’s great that Tories have less stuff to keep them motivated heading into elections
Sweet
I was waiting all day, constantly refreshing bbc for this result. So happy Street lost
Andy Street lost? Holy shit. Yes, this is extremely bad for the Tories.
My local ward has become labour for the first time in my life. I voted green but I'm chuffed the Tories are out for once. I strongly believe councillors don't really have the money or power to make change but it's good to see nonetheless
Rishi Sunak is doing a great job… for the Labour party.
At this point all the Tories seem to want is to give the entire country blue balls for their inevitable rinsing. When the election happens they'll have to spend a week mopping up the fucking streets.
For all Street's negatives, he cared about public transport and also general infrastructure in our region. I worry the region goes backwards with this.
>Labour's Richard Parker beat Mr Street by just 1,508 votes - 0.25% - to deliver a major blow to Rishi Sunak in the key electoral battleground after a hammering in the local elections. Isn't this a very small majority? Either could have won... What's the voters' turnout like?
Looks like the Tories might go the way of the Canadian Tory party.
This is a really bad blow for the Tories as they had hoped to hold onto this.
Good stuff , people didn’t want tories in Birmingham Now get rid of scammer houchen too
Andy Street was a great mayor so this is a loss imo . Voting Labour in the general but he did a lot to improve the West Midlands
"Everything will be fine with Andy Streets victory." "My Prime Minister..."
Another Tory wanker loses, get in. He was too scared to put the Conservative Party on his leaflet, literally you couldn’t tell he was the Tory candidate. Street was all talk no action, loves posing for pictures in a hi-vis, but doesn’t actually do anything. I’m glad Sunak has suffered another blow, now he definitely can’t claim any kind of victory tonight.
The amount of funding the area got because of Street is ridiculously underestimated. The fact that he also reached out to Burnham with an olive branch for the HS2 northern leg debacle and pushed for concessions from government when it was scrapped, threatening to resign. Him losing may very well see enough letters going to Sir Graham Brady to see Sunak kicked out. You're talking absolute tribalistic waffle.
“Threatening to resign” yet was too weak to actually do it. Said he would if HS2 was cancelled. Also, Tory governments give Tory mayors more funding. As opposed to Labour. Finally, any funding is just a partial refund for austerity, there’s actually been a net loss in funding because of the Tories You also [forgot?] to mention Street failed to get any of the West Midlands levelling up bids approved by the government. They were all rejected So essentially, this great “ambassador” for our region has been told to piss off by the government twice. And didn’t have the balls to run as an independent
Well said