Just declare at the next election that she's a candidate for a different seat. It's quite easy, politicians have done it before, particularly when the boundaries have been updated.
Just accuse some labour mp of misconduct before the election, parachute her in then drop the allegations after. They did it to Stephen Hepburn the Jarrow mp last time.
Lol no. Candidates are chosen by the local party who fiercely value their independence. If she's lucky an NP might stand down, but voters tend to rebel against candidates who are 'parachuted in' by the central party.
When you repeated "shift her" it reminded me that in ROI shifting = sleeping with then I got a chuckle reading it back from the perspective of an Irishman.
Honestly, I am not a big fan of Jess Phillips, I'm really not... But, you're almost guaranteed to dislike the person who replaces her a whole lot more.
At her acceptance speech in 2024, I felt quite sorry for her. The "men" (Islamic men, let's be clear) jeering and booing her would've intimidated me.
I don’t think she’s an awful human being. In fact I don’t at all appreciate the venom against her but she took on a difficult seat with generations of problems and rather than step up, call out what no one ever do before and deal with the problem she just took to turning to the dark side, gaslight the whole country and kowtow to malevolence while a bigger monster was allowed to develop.
She is entirely responsible for what’s to come after she out of office.
Not sure there really are any genuine Left wingers who haven't either departed of their own volition, or been expelled by the Zionists who took over the Party (but lacked the grace & honesty to change the Party's name).
A few good-hearted MPs curiously somehow manage to hold both their noses & the Starmbour whip, 'though I'm not sure how they accomplish it.
I can't see any of them acquiring sufficient support to lead the Party however, & suspect that history may not treat them kindly for staying whilst their downpunching Cabinet supported Netanyahu & removed our civil liberties
I do remember, but still expect another Right-winger is likely to take Starmer's place if/when someone finds the backbone to give him a metaphorical sideways shove..
I also think that hope for Westminster now resides with Zack Polanski's Green Party.
He's neither afraid of anyone, nor afraid to tell the truth, & could lead a Coalition which might keep the three Right-wing/Far-right organisations out of Downing Street
I’m not surprised. The working class seats have been loyal to Labour through thick and thin, but feel that this government has not repaid that trust. The country is not in a great state, and this government of service has proven to be more about self-service than the people’s
If you can’t vote Conservative or Labour, then it’s likely that the two populists are left
This a very London Elite Labour Party despite what they might say. They really don’t like the working class or care for their concerns. It’s a shame really because it would be nice to have an alternative to Reform for those matters.
I think this is what the Labour top brass thinks. The problem is she never looked like someone who ever did a tremendous amount of hard work to begin with, and her stamp duty scandal only adds to her vibe that she's lazy and morally decrepit. Working class people value people who do an honest day's work, and they despise people they perceive as getting a free ride.
She is a middle class hippie from Surrey's view of how a working class person looks.
When your housing champion avoids more stamp duty than what most people earn in a year, those gritty working class people that Labour needs, will view that as unforgivable. Working class people care about principles, honesty and not being a duplicitious hypocrite.
I don't understand why Labour are backing her so hard
She's not a working class legend like Dennis Skinner
She's not a accomplished technocrat like Mandelson
She's not an established strategist like Cambell
She doesn't have a cult following like Diane Abbott
She's not even a sensible, safe pair of hands like Yvette Cooper
She comes across as if she is LARPing, is well out of her depth and has resorted to "going on the take", before enough people realise how inept and unlikeable she really is and she gets told where to go. She is probably closer to Liz Truss than anyone else. For all the corruption and failures of the Conservatives, the core Conservative elite still realised Truss' position was unteneable and used their internal policies to swiftly get rid of her.
I actually think people have a point when they say she’s not ‘working class’. She’s started out below working class, probably in the upper echelons of what you might somewhat condescendingly refer to as the underclass. She’s done well and lifted her self above that, but jumped straight into middle class.
Absolutely no shade on her, but in the same way you wouldn’t roll out a working class lad made good into the upper middle class (ie Sean Bean) to appeal to the leafy Surrey suburbs of middle class families, it’s disingenuous to think she can be your working class icon.
The difference is quite simply remembering where you came from and are they still your equal or not!
Some look back with fondness and others look back with disgust. No one minds someone making it off the estate into Surburbia or beyond unless they start banging on about how they are working class yet look down at where they came from.
For some working class remains part of them. For her it is the past. Its a story to tell.
Yes I am. She is LARPing as a serious leader who cares about anything other than feathering her own nest.
I also consider Liz Truss to be a LARPer. She's a former 2nd rate Metropolitan Remainer LibDem who had at least one affair (which is officially on public record...) who suddenly self styled as a tough-minded, Thatcherite conservative who rose up against a hostile glass ceiling and still beat her competition.
Jenrick looks like the sort of person who used to bring a briefcase to school. At least Badenoch looks like she had friends and got invited to parties.
Badenoch comes across as being quite genuine. Whether that is a good thing is up to the viewer but Jenrick is a full on Tory Wet that decided it would be advantageous to pretend to be a hard nut.
Working class people don't care about that sort of thing. Tax dodgers, liars and hypocrites typically do well in the polls right now. But she is in the wrong party to get those votes right now though. She might be better suited for Reform.
I knew a very clever person would say something like this.
The problem is Rayner used a trust to unlawfully avoid tax due, whereas Farage gave money to his girlfriend to purchase a house under her name for them both to stay at, which is entirely lawful. People know these things are not equivalent and the Guardian continuing to run with that story made them look like imbeciles.
But you said that working class voters care deeply about honesty. So how come they don't care that Nigel swears blind he didn't give money to his girlfriend for the house, when obviously he did? How come they don't care that Nigel swears blind that the 34 independent accounts of his teenaged Nazi behaviour, including contemporary writings of his teachers, are all fabricated?
It wasn't me, I'm not that smart. But If you are taking a principled stance I see no difference. If it's purely about the legality of it then fair enough. I don't feel as though people are consistent here though if it is the latter considering what people are willing to ignore.
Not to my knowledge but I was told on here recently if I don't have enough money when I retire as the result of that is then I deserve what is coming to me. Can't say I like that but I am mentally prepared for my punishment.
So the reason I've avoided the above is ties to speculation and stocks not about tax relief being bad. And charity I don't really have much money to make any reasonable donations, I do help out at food banks and litter picking but nothing about that benefits me.
I would be fine with tax relief on first time buyers if they are actual first time buyers. I have witnessed this being what I consider abused by a couple buying a second home because the first home was under one partners name then the second under the other.. That shouldn't really be allowed. I can see why some may argue it being fine, but I just disagree.
I would support restrictions on some gifts, I feel like thats a whole rabbithole of a discussion on its own though and would need to be considered carefully what is being restricted but generally gifts being used as a means to avoid paying tax I am principally against this practice. But I accept there are exceptions that do make sense.
Full article: Labour believes it is “fighting a losing battle” against Reform in the Red Wall area where Angela Rayner holds her seat and Andy Burnham could stand in a by-election for a route back to Downing Street.
An ‘urgent’ warning sent out to grassroots members in Tameside, Greater Manchester, comes as Labour is forecast to suffer substantial losses at May’s local elections, which could threaten Sir Keir Starmer’s premiership.
Tameside is a traditional Labour stronghold and covers Angela Rayner’s constituency, which the former Deputy Prime Minister has held since 2015.
Any Reform gains in the council area could spell a stark warning ahead of the next general election, where polls already suggests Rayner’s seat is under threat.
In a letter to local party members sent ahead of an ‘urgent’ meeting next week, North West Regional Director Anthony Lavelle offered a downbeat assessment of Labour’s position in Tameside, warning it could suffer serious losses to Reform.
He said: “I won’t put this lightly – we are fighting a losing battle here, and we urgently need your help.”
The threat of Reform UK “is now very real”, Lavelle said, pointing out that the party already has one councillor “active locally” adding: “There is a genuine risk they will gain more seats.”
Reform secured its first elected councillor in Greater Manchester last April, when Allan Hopwood won a by-election in Tameside
Lavelle said Reform UK is “already organising locally for May, and the only way to counter this is through a strong, visible grassroots campaign.”
The patch is also where Manchester mayor Andy Burnham could reportedly bid to become MP for Gorton and Denton – if current independent Andrew Gwynne stands down – in the event of a challenge to Starmer’s leadership.
Danger to Labour stronghold
Recent polling has consistently suggested Reform would win a national majority if a general election were to happen, including seats currently held by senior Labour figures in Tameside.
According to a projection produced by More in Common, Reform UK would win Rayner’s Ashton-under-Lyne seat with 45 per cent of the vote compared to 20 per cent for Labour.
Reform was also projected to gain Gorton and Denton with 30 per cent of the vote over 28 per cent for Labour.
Rayner retained Ashton-under-Lyne in 2024 with a majority of only 6,791 over Reform. Labour has held the constituency since 1935.
She has been touted as a future leadership contender, with strong support from unions and the Labour membership.
However there appear to be concerns over whether the Stockport-born MP will be able to hold her seat the next election. Labour has previously denied Rayner plans a so-called ‘chicken run’ from her constituency to contest a safer seat on the south coast.
Her stock has fallen in recent months after she resigned as Deputy PM last September for failing to pay enough tax on her £800,000 flat in Hove.
Tameside is also where former minister for Business and Trade Jonathan Reynolds held his Stalybridge and Hyde constituency by 8,539 votes in 2024. The seat was another forecast to fall to Reform at the next election in the MRP poll.
No easy return for Burnham
The warnings will also add weight to claims that there is no easy path for Burnham to return as an MP and launch a campaign to oust Starmer as leader.
According to The Sun on Sunday, arrangements are being made for Gwynne to resign from his seat in Gorton and Denton triggering a by-election that would be held on 7 May, the same day as the local elections.
The idea has been repeatedly denied by Gwynne who says he will see out his entire term.
Labour has been in turmoil in the borough since Gwynne was sacked as health minister and lost the party whip last year after it emerged he sent a string of offensive and abusive messages in a WhatsApp group.
A number of Tameside Labour councillors were also suspended over their involvement in the scandal which has emboldened rivals.
Reform and Conservative councillors were involved in a protest outside Gwynne’s office last year at which demonstrators called on him to quit.
Burnham has previously dismissed reports that he is lining up a seat for a leadership bid as a “load of rubbish” adding: “Reminds me why I left Westminster in the first place.”
Since winning five seats and 14 per cent of the vote in the 2024 General Election, Reform has continued to soar in the polls and make inroads into mainstream politics, taking control of ten councils in England last May.
They included authorities across the country from Durham and Lancashire to Worcestershire and Kent.
However, internal rows have broken out across several councils under Reform control, with Kent councillors suspended by Reform after a public row last October condemning the current leadership in Kent as “narcissistic lunatics” earlier this month.
The party has also faced criticism after it emerged last week that all Reform-led councils are due to increase council tax this year, despite having pledged to cut it.
Not really that is one advisor. Find me a policy.
Now look at the policies that will be implemented by the hedge fund bankers in reform and tell me what them do for the average person.
I left the labour party over their weird policies like this. A lot of their policies boards are everything but white men (as woman are represented either way).
Not that I especially want to vote reform, either.
So your evidence of Labour calling people a far right racist just for being white is.... A tweet that just says "image from Rochester" which mentions nothing about the far right, racists or being white. Something that people inferred classism from rather than the person who tweeted implied classism....
I don't need to apply the same level of scrutiny because I have no intention of voting for them. I looked at Labour because I did vote for them once. Now I won't be.
Why are you making some ultra progressive 2018 era Twitter activists into your definition of Labour? Aren't they all Green Party/Palestine Action supporters now anyway?
We're blue Labour now mate. Lil bit lefty on the economy, lil bit conservative on social issues, want to sort immigration and somehow still open to occasional neolib ideas.
I live in one of the Tameside constituencies and this isn't surprising at all. The Labour Party could not care less about Tameside and it really shows in the lack of investment or time spent addressing its issues. They don't even care about Labour members either. I was a member of the party for years and they never once contacted me to help with something going on in my own local area.
That neglect is compouned by the many Labour MPs in the area involved in scandals over the last couple of years. Especially Andrew Gwynne and Rayner, who've done so much to endorse the Reform claims about the uniparty and all politicians being the same.
At this point I'm pretty sure outer Manchester is switching to Reform. It's going to leave me feeling pretty ill but the Labour Party clearly needs a wake up call because they couldn't give a stuff about actual working class areas like Denton and Ashton.
Good. I hate that it has to be reform but she isn’t fit to run for office. It would be nice to see people actually decide that they will actually punish dodgey politicians for once.
Are we discounting the idea that if Burnham did stand in a by-election, it would very much be a by-election framed (if not by him, then by the press) around the future of Keir Starmer's leadership?
That's got to be worth a few votes being thrown Labour's way, either by disengaged Labour voters wanting to see the back of him, or by other voters wanting to see a bit of chaos.
Burnham isn't getting anywhere near being selected while Labour Together continue to dominate the leadership of the Labour party. Pretending otherwise is foolishness.
This country is truly over if rayner gets anywhere near power. For all of starmer's faults at least he looks relatively presentable on the world stage. Imagine rayner next to trump.
Snapshot of Leaked memo reveals Labour fears of wipeout by Reform in Rayner's seat submitted by theipaper:
An archived version can be found here or here. or here
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
Wow would be so funny if she lost her seat just after becoming leader 🤣
If there's even the possibility that the leader might lose their seat, they'll shift her to the safest one that they can find.
Better to have the embarrassment of moving to a safe seat than the absolute mortifying look of a Prime Minister losing their seat.
'Shift her' how??
Just declare at the next election that she's a candidate for a different seat. It's quite easy, politicians have done it before, particularly when the boundaries have been updated.
Just accuse some labour mp of misconduct before the election, parachute her in then drop the allegations after. They did it to Stephen Hepburn the Jarrow mp last time.
Or offer the sitting MP a seat in the Lords if they'll step down at the next election.
Some people would take that deal in a heartbeat.
They did it in an era before 24/7 mass media. She’d be mocked mercilessly if she tried to do something like that today.
Lol no. Candidates are chosen by the local party who fiercely value their independence. If she's lucky an NP might stand down, but voters tend to rebel against candidates who are 'parachuted in' by the central party.
When you repeated "shift her" it reminded me that in ROI shifting = sleeping with then I got a chuckle reading it back from the perspective of an Irishman.
Couple of strong blokes should be able to lift her into a wheel barrow and then they can shift her somewhere....slowly but.
It will be funny when Jess Philips loses hers too
Almost certain
Honestly, I am not a big fan of Jess Phillips, I'm really not... But, you're almost guaranteed to dislike the person who replaces her a whole lot more.
At her acceptance speech in 2024, I felt quite sorry for her. The "men" (Islamic men, let's be clear) jeering and booing her would've intimidated me.
Jess Phillip chose to play the Game of Thrones by being a gaslighting queen while knowing everything all along.
The whole seat and its pretenders are rotten to the core.
No sympathy for her but boy did she sacrifice so many victims on the altar of power and she'll end up in the dole office at the end of it.
It really said to me that if Labour can tolerate a snake like that and give her a Ministerial position then this party is no better than the last lot
Hey don't get me wrong, she's absolutely awful.
Just don't expect the representative of that seat to get better from the next general election onwards. It won't.
I don’t think she’s an awful human being. In fact I don’t at all appreciate the venom against her but she took on a difficult seat with generations of problems and rather than step up, call out what no one ever do before and deal with the problem she just took to turning to the dark side, gaslight the whole country and kowtow to malevolence while a bigger monster was allowed to develop.
She is entirely responsible for what’s to come after she out of office.
You misspelt “glorious”
Isn't Starmer's replacement more likely to be Lammy or Streeting?
Lammy no chance. Rayner is the standard bearer of the left-wingers and very popular with the membership. Streeting is the leading right wing candidate
Not sure there really are any genuine Left wingers who haven't either departed of their own volition, or been expelled by the Zionists who took over the Party (but lacked the grace & honesty to change the Party's name).
A few good-hearted MPs curiously somehow manage to hold both their noses & the Starmbour whip, 'though I'm not sure how they accomplish it.
I can't see any of them acquiring sufficient support to lead the Party however, & suspect that history may not treat them kindly for staying whilst their downpunching Cabinet supported Netanyahu & removed our civil liberties
..but hey, what do I know?
Remember that the party members overwhelmingly voted Jeremy Corbyn in as leader not that long ago and that the unions still have significant power.
I do remember, but still expect another Right-winger is likely to take Starmer's place if/when someone finds the backbone to give him a metaphorical sideways shove..
I also think that hope for Westminster now resides with Zack Polanski's Green Party.
He's neither afraid of anyone, nor afraid to tell the truth, & could lead a Coalition which might keep the three Right-wing/Far-right organisations out of Downing Street
Polanski is just a snake oil salesman I'm afraid.
Time will tell
I’m not surprised. The working class seats have been loyal to Labour through thick and thin, but feel that this government has not repaid that trust. The country is not in a great state, and this government of service has proven to be more about self-service than the people’s
If you can’t vote Conservative or Labour, then it’s likely that the two populists are left
Can't see these areas voting Green because of their open immigration policies.
Well the red wall famously abandoned labour for the tories over brexit
You are right in the rest of the message
But both Labour and the Tories were in favour of remain.
Though neither were exactly united on that point I admit.
True but when Bojo ran, Brexit pulled a lot of the red wall over. The working class crossed over on the immigration promise
Ahh, I see what you mean.
Yeah, then suffered the sudden but inevitable betrayal inherent to the Tories.
This a very London Elite Labour Party despite what they might say. They really don’t like the working class or care for their concerns. It’s a shame really because it would be nice to have an alternative to Reform for those matters.
Rayner doesn't appeal to London elite types or working class people.
She might not appeal to them as such, but she's useful for the "look we are still the party of the working class" nonsense they sprout.
I think this is what the Labour top brass thinks. The problem is she never looked like someone who ever did a tremendous amount of hard work to begin with, and her stamp duty scandal only adds to her vibe that she's lazy and morally decrepit. Working class people value people who do an honest day's work, and they despise people they perceive as getting a free ride.
She is a middle class hippie from Surrey's view of how a working class person looks.
Spout
It's one of the most deprived areas in the UK.
When your housing champion avoids more stamp duty than what most people earn in a year, those gritty working class people that Labour needs, will view that as unforgivable. Working class people care about principles, honesty and not being a duplicitious hypocrite.
I don't understand why Labour are backing her so hard
She comes across as if she is LARPing, is well out of her depth and has resorted to "going on the take", before enough people realise how inept and unlikeable she really is and she gets told where to go. She is probably closer to Liz Truss than anyone else. For all the corruption and failures of the Conservatives, the core Conservative elite still realised Truss' position was unteneable and used their internal policies to swiftly get rid of her.
Basically, the unions like her.
Are you aware of her background? She certainly is not LARPing as working class.
What appeals to working class is people from their background that do well for themselves off their own graft and stay grounded/rooted.
She is the opposite. She managed to get the free ticket up in a union and once at the top the grounded/rooted image is all fake!
I actually think people have a point when they say she’s not ‘working class’. She’s started out below working class, probably in the upper echelons of what you might somewhat condescendingly refer to as the underclass. She’s done well and lifted her self above that, but jumped straight into middle class.
Absolutely no shade on her, but in the same way you wouldn’t roll out a working class lad made good into the upper middle class (ie Sean Bean) to appeal to the leafy Surrey suburbs of middle class families, it’s disingenuous to think she can be your working class icon.
The difference is quite simply remembering where you came from and are they still your equal or not!
Some look back with fondness and others look back with disgust. No one minds someone making it off the estate into Surburbia or beyond unless they start banging on about how they are working class yet look down at where they came from.
For some working class remains part of them. For her it is the past. Its a story to tell.
Yes I am. She is LARPing as a serious leader who cares about anything other than feathering her own nest.
I also consider Liz Truss to be a LARPer. She's a former 2nd rate Metropolitan Remainer LibDem who had at least one affair (which is officially on public record...) who suddenly self styled as a tough-minded, Thatcherite conservative who rose up against a hostile glass ceiling and still beat her competition.
Same as Jenrick. Amazing how some of these people turn from liberal to hard right when it suits their ambitions.
Jenrick looks like the sort of person who used to bring a briefcase to school. At least Badenoch looks like she had friends and got invited to parties.
Badenoch comes across as being quite genuine. Whether that is a good thing is up to the viewer but Jenrick is a full on Tory Wet that decided it would be advantageous to pretend to be a hard nut.
Working class people don't care about that sort of thing. Tax dodgers, liars and hypocrites typically do well in the polls right now. But she is in the wrong party to get those votes right now though. She might be better suited for Reform.
I knew a very clever person would say something like this.
The problem is Rayner used a trust to unlawfully avoid tax due, whereas Farage gave money to his girlfriend to purchase a house under her name for them both to stay at, which is entirely lawful. People know these things are not equivalent and the Guardian continuing to run with that story made them look like imbeciles.
But you said that working class voters care deeply about honesty. So how come they don't care that Nigel swears blind he didn't give money to his girlfriend for the house, when obviously he did? How come they don't care that Nigel swears blind that the 34 independent accounts of his teenaged Nazi behaviour, including contemporary writings of his teachers, are all fabricated?
It wasn't me, I'm not that smart. But If you are taking a principled stance I see no difference. If it's purely about the legality of it then fair enough. I don't feel as though people are consistent here though if it is the latter considering what people are willing to ignore.
Have you ever paid into a private pension, used an ISA or made a charitable donation with tax relief?
Not to my knowledge but I was told on here recently if I don't have enough money when I retire as the result of that is then I deserve what is coming to me. Can't say I like that but I am mentally prepared for my punishment.
Right, well. That seems unnecessarily unpleasant of them.
Do you oppose tax relief on first time home buyers and would you support restrictions on gifts?
So the reason I've avoided the above is ties to speculation and stocks not about tax relief being bad. And charity I don't really have much money to make any reasonable donations, I do help out at food banks and litter picking but nothing about that benefits me.
I would be fine with tax relief on first time buyers if they are actual first time buyers. I have witnessed this being what I consider abused by a couple buying a second home because the first home was under one partners name then the second under the other.. That shouldn't really be allowed. I can see why some may argue it being fine, but I just disagree.
I would support restrictions on some gifts, I feel like thats a whole rabbithole of a discussion on its own though and would need to be considered carefully what is being restricted but generally gifts being used as a means to avoid paying tax I am principally against this practice. But I accept there are exceptions that do make sense.
I'm hyped for these may elections. They're going to be really entertaining no matter what happens.
It's a nice change from slugging along with infinite Tories.
with reform accepting former Tory MPs, looks like it will continue
Full article: Labour believes it is “fighting a losing battle” against Reform in the Red Wall area where Angela Rayner holds her seat and Andy Burnham could stand in a by-election for a route back to Downing Street.
An ‘urgent’ warning sent out to grassroots members in Tameside, Greater Manchester, comes as Labour is forecast to suffer substantial losses at May’s local elections, which could threaten Sir Keir Starmer’s premiership.
It comes as a polling suggests Reform is on course to win a huge majority at the next election. Today, the party announced former Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi as its latest high-profile defection from the Tories.
Tameside is a traditional Labour stronghold and covers Angela Rayner’s constituency, which the former Deputy Prime Minister has held since 2015.
Any Reform gains in the council area could spell a stark warning ahead of the next general election, where polls already suggests Rayner’s seat is under threat.
In a letter to local party members sent ahead of an ‘urgent’ meeting next week, North West Regional Director Anthony Lavelle offered a downbeat assessment of Labour’s position in Tameside, warning it could suffer serious losses to Reform.
He said: “I won’t put this lightly – we are fighting a losing battle here, and we urgently need your help.”
The threat of Reform UK “is now very real”, Lavelle said, pointing out that the party already has one councillor “active locally” adding: “There is a genuine risk they will gain more seats.”
Reform secured its first elected councillor in Greater Manchester last April, when Allan Hopwood won a by-election in Tameside
Lavelle said Reform UK is “already organising locally for May, and the only way to counter this is through a strong, visible grassroots campaign.”
The patch is also where Manchester mayor Andy Burnham could reportedly bid to become MP for Gorton and Denton – if current independent Andrew Gwynne stands down – in the event of a challenge to Starmer’s leadership.
Danger to Labour stronghold
Recent polling has consistently suggested Reform would win a national majority if a general election were to happen, including seats currently held by senior Labour figures in Tameside.
According to a projection produced by More in Common, Reform UK would win Rayner’s Ashton-under-Lyne seat with 45 per cent of the vote compared to 20 per cent for Labour.
Rayner retained Ashton-under-Lyne in 2024 with a majority of only 6,791 over Reform. Labour has held the constituency since 1935.
She has been touted as a future leadership contender, with strong support from unions and the Labour membership.
However there appear to be concerns over whether the Stockport-born MP will be able to hold her seat the next election. Labour has previously denied Rayner plans a so-called ‘chicken run’ from her constituency to contest a safer seat on the south coast.
Her stock has fallen in recent months after she resigned as Deputy PM last September for failing to pay enough tax on her £800,000 flat in Hove.
Tameside is also where former minister for Business and Trade Jonathan Reynolds held his Stalybridge and Hyde constituency by 8,539 votes in 2024. The seat was another forecast to fall to Reform at the next election in the MRP poll.
No easy return for Burnham
The warnings will also add weight to claims that there is no easy path for Burnham to return as an MP and launch a campaign to oust Starmer as leader.
According to The Sun on Sunday, arrangements are being made for Gwynne to resign from his seat in Gorton and Denton triggering a by-election that would be held on 7 May, the same day as the local elections.
The idea has been repeatedly denied by Gwynne who says he will see out his entire term.
Labour has been in turmoil in the borough since Gwynne was sacked as health minister and lost the party whip last year after it emerged he sent a string of offensive and abusive messages in a WhatsApp group.
A number of Tameside Labour councillors were also suspended over their involvement in the scandal which has emboldened rivals.
Reform and Conservative councillors were involved in a protest outside Gwynne’s office last year at which demonstrators called on him to quit.
Burnham has previously dismissed reports that he is lining up a seat for a leadership bid as a “load of rubbish” adding: “Reminds me why I left Westminster in the first place.”
They included authorities across the country from Durham and Lancashire to Worcestershire and Kent.
However, internal rows have broken out across several councils under Reform control, with Kent councillors suspended by Reform after a public row last October condemning the current leadership in Kent as “narcissistic lunatics” earlier this month.
The party has also faced criticism after it emerged last week that all Reform-led councils are due to increase council tax this year, despite having pledged to cut it.
Reform has secured a number of high-profile Tory defections in recent months, with Zahawi announcing that he has joined Nigel Farage’s party to help deliver “a glorious revolution” in UK politics.
Labour declined to comment.
I didn’t leave the Labour Party. Labour left me.
Reform don’t call me a far right racist, simply for being a white male.
What happens then if Reform doesn't deliver on the change you want?
Then the Labour Party needs to change to win my vote in the next election.
Would you still vote Reform even if they don't deliver and even betray your vote?
When did Labour call you a far right racist just for being white?
Does this count?
https://news.sky.com/story/labour-appoint-model-munroe-bergdorf-who-claimed-all-white-people-are-racist-11270013
Not really that is one advisor. Find me a policy. Now look at the policies that will be implemented by the hedge fund bankers in reform and tell me what them do for the average person.
1) she's not 'Labour'
2) she resigned a month later
BBC News - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-30146196.amp White van men tell us what they think of the white van tweet - BBC News
There's a bunch more too.
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/labour-accused-discriminating-straight-white-men-110855345.html
I left the labour party over their weird policies like this. A lot of their policies boards are everything but white men (as woman are represented either way).
Not that I especially want to vote reform, either.
So your evidence of Labour calling people a far right racist just for being white is.... A tweet that just says "image from Rochester" which mentions nothing about the far right, racists or being white. Something that people inferred classism from rather than the person who tweeted implied classism....
Huh.
So one MP and some fringe group connected to the party say some dumb shit, and you condemn the whole party.
Ok. Fair enough.
Although, I doubt you’re applying that same level of scrutiny and intolerance to Reform.
Can you honestly say Reform hasn’t said worse?
I am not voting reform, no.
That’s not what I asked,
I don't need to apply the same level of scrutiny because I have no intention of voting for them. I looked at Labour because I did vote for them once. Now I won't be.
This isn't hard to understand.
When? This election? 2019? 2017?
Why are you making some ultra progressive 2018 era Twitter activists into your definition of Labour? Aren't they all Green Party/Palestine Action supporters now anyway?
We're blue Labour now mate. Lil bit lefty on the economy, lil bit conservative on social issues, want to sort immigration and somehow still open to occasional neolib ideas.
I live in one of the Tameside constituencies and this isn't surprising at all. The Labour Party could not care less about Tameside and it really shows in the lack of investment or time spent addressing its issues. They don't even care about Labour members either. I was a member of the party for years and they never once contacted me to help with something going on in my own local area.
That neglect is compouned by the many Labour MPs in the area involved in scandals over the last couple of years. Especially Andrew Gwynne and Rayner, who've done so much to endorse the Reform claims about the uniparty and all politicians being the same.
At this point I'm pretty sure outer Manchester is switching to Reform. It's going to leave me feeling pretty ill but the Labour Party clearly needs a wake up call because they couldn't give a stuff about actual working class areas like Denton and Ashton.
There is an argument to say that the greatest scandal here is the font used in that letter...
Good. I hate that it has to be reform but she isn’t fit to run for office. It would be nice to see people actually decide that they will actually punish dodgey politicians for once.
Are we discounting the idea that if Burnham did stand in a by-election, it would very much be a by-election framed (if not by him, then by the press) around the future of Keir Starmer's leadership?
That's got to be worth a few votes being thrown Labour's way, either by disengaged Labour voters wanting to see the back of him, or by other voters wanting to see a bit of chaos.
Burnham isn't getting anywhere near being selected while Labour Together continue to dominate the leadership of the Labour party. Pretending otherwise is foolishness.
This country is truly over if rayner gets anywhere near power. For all of starmer's faults at least he looks relatively presentable on the world stage. Imagine rayner next to trump.
Almost everything Starmbour have done has encouraged Fuhrage Limited & the Far-right.
The Party's leadership surely can't harbour any 'fears of a wipeout' when that has so clearly been their policy.
Hopefully a Green led Coalition will win the next General Election, & bring some sanity back to British politics however.
Polanski isn't scared of any of them