Seems ConDems have crashed down south as expected with Labour making pretty big gains. 

Be interesting to see how things pan out in Scotland but presumably given it is STV there won't be any councils where a party has overall control.  Apparently heading for the lowest turnout in years up here but then you'd hardly know there was an election on where I stay.  No posters or billboards and I only got one leaflet through my door which was Tory, which is bizarre given in my ward I'd imagine they'd do well to get even 4th on 1st preference never mind get anywhere near a seat.

 

Don't suppose it means much so far away from a GE but already had Tory MPs demanding Callmedave is more right wing after UKIP success in the south and comedy figure Lebit Opik demanding Nick Clegg resigns as leader of the Lib Dems (but seemingly stay on as Deputy PM).

Also glad to see that so far nobody has voted in favour of Mayors in various English cities. Total waste of time and money and nothing more than a celebrity driven ego trip (see B. Johnston and K. Livingston)

4 minutes ago, TheDonbytheDee said:

Starmer on the brink, reckon it will see something happen today.

If we was an animal, he would have been put out of his misery by now. 

They have to get Burnham back in, he seems the only one capable of uniting them and taking on Reform.

 

Problem is the ambitions of the likes of Rayner, Streeting and Milliband will block any route for Burnham. Personal career progression and ego will, yet again hamper the party from doing what’s right and more importantly best for their chances of staying in govt next GE. 

28 minutes ago, Ajja said:

Problem is the ambitions of the likes of Rayner, Streeting and Milliband will block any route for Burnham. Personal career progression and ego will, yet again hamper the party from doing what’s right and more importantly best for their chances of staying in govt next GE. 

True, but Rayner has come out and said they need Burnham back. Maybe a Blair/Brown type deal, with Rayner taking over during term 2?

Milliband has no chance of getting it.

Streeting is a weasel and will be doing deals to get the top job as I write this. 

Burnham could unite the factions (as best as anyone can) and give them something to build from. The issue is there isn't much talent in the party to make a great deal of difference overall, but just someone who appears competent would make a big difference.

Starmer has never looked the part.  

21 minutes ago, TheDonbytheDee said:

True, but Rayner has come out and said they need Burnham back. Maybe a Blair/Brown type deal, with Rayner taking over during term 2?

Milliband has no chance of getting it.

Streeting is a weasel and will be doing deals to get the top job as I write this. 

Burnham could unite the factions (as best as anyone can) and give them something to build from. The issue is there isn't much talent in the party to make a great deal of difference overall, but just someone who appears competent would make a big difference.

Starmer has never looked the part.  

Fucking messianic Andy Burnham, eh? Is that what things have come to? Jesus Christ. It's a real wonder that voter turnout is so low. 

Replacing Starmer with Streeting would be absolutely fucking mental. Wes is the only person in the party more unpopular than him 

So that’s what they’ll do 

1 minute ago, RicoS321 said:

Fucking messianic Andy Burnham, eh? Is that what things have come to? Jesus Christ. It's a real wonder that voter turnout is so low. 

He likes The Smiths so we already know he’s a man of taste and good judgment. Id prefer it if the Labour Party just died though 

5 minutes ago, Mason89 said:

Replacing Starmer with Streeting would be absolutely fucking mental. Wes is the only person in the party more unpopular than him 

So that’s what they’ll do 

They’re no better than Tories with all this pish. A mix of personal egos and paying too much attention to the media has led to this when they should be getting on with fixing the mess they inherited.  It’s amateur dramatics as Tom Watson said this week. 
 

If it’s Rayner (and I don’t mind her) she will be absolutely hounded out by the media. She’ll be crucified. 
 

Streeting would be dreadful, far worse than Starmer. 
 

Burnham ain’t an MP and they’d have to find a VERY safe seat for him to stand in. 

Well if anyone knows about replacing a labour leader, it’s Tom Watson 

On 09/05/2026 at 00:32, Ajja said:

My seat, Edinburgh Southern is as solid a Labour seat as you’ll find in Scotland. When Scottish Labour went down to 1 MP in Westminster it was here. We’ve delivered again. 
 

Great to see Reform get zero constituency seats. Hopefully once those Inverness folk wake up we’ll get a result in the regionals there and fingers crossed Labour get enough to keep reform in third. Greens did brilliantly. 
 

End result when it all shakes out looks pretty much the same as 2021 with pro-Indie team getting approx the same seats but more in Greens favour and the right getting the same but split between Reform and Tories. 

She was at a hustings I attended a couple of weeks ago - it was primarily about climate change and the first thing she said was blah blah net zero is pish - could not believe she was top of the list for the lothians 

Just now, Goldie03 said:

could not believe she was top of the list for the lothians 

Remember the golden rule of Labour in Scotland - everyone gets their turn 

 

3 minutes ago, Mason89 said:

Remember the golden rule of Labour in Scotland - everyone gets their turn 

 

She is Reform I meant to quote a different Ajja post 

On 09/05/2026 at 10:07, Ajja said:

The tied result for second is going to be interesting for FMQs. I wonder what the odds are on the speed at which one of the crooks or grifters in Reform get ousted and they lose that second spot. 
 

My favourite is Angela Ross, the first on the list here in Lothians. Runs a company who deliver corporate advice on DEI including to big public sector bodies while representing a party who have said they will scrap all DEI training for public sector 🤣🤣🤣

When asked, Reform said that ‘having seen these initiatives from the inside, she is well placed to understand their shortcomings’. Cracking business model 🤣

This one 

1 minute ago, Goldie03 said:

This one 

My brain doesn’t usually wake up till lunchtime & even then its not much use  

What do you all make of Swinney shutting out Reform - would it not have been better to have a code of conduct drawn up and try persuade the others to go along with it and leave Reform looking like the absolute wankers that they are as inevitably they wouldn't have been interested.

I worry that by excluding they somehow get more legitimacy than they deserve.

1 minute ago, Mason89 said:

My brain doesn’t usually wake up till lunchtime & even then its not much use  

I phoned in sick today and should have had a sleep before posting 🤣

6 minutes ago, Goldie03 said:

She was at a hustings I attended a couple of weeks ago - it was primarily about climate change and the first thing she said was blah blah net zero is pish - could not believe she was top of the list for the lothians 

Net zero is pish though. It's what happens when ecologists are drowned out by single issue "environmentalists". Business as usual, but with "green technology" is a very transparent con. 

Although that won't have been the angle she took!

7 minutes ago, Goldie03 said:

What do you all make of Swinney shutting out Reform - would it not have been better to have a code of conduct drawn up and try persuade the others to go along with it and leave Reform looking like the absolute wankers that they are as inevitably they wouldn't have been interested.

I worry that by excluding they somehow get more legitimacy than they deserve.

Cordon Sanitaire 

Theyre a minority party of wankers and Swinney doesn’t have to entertain them in the slightest. They’ll spend the next few years asking gotcha questions for their socials & actively hate the place their having to ‘work’ in 

 

56 minutes ago, RicoS321 said:

Fucking messianic Andy Burnham, eh? Is that what things have come to? Jesus Christ. It's a real wonder that voter turnout is so low. 

True, but Labour need someone and it ain't Streeting or Rayner and it sure as fuck isn't Starmer.

Reform in power 2029, isn't appealing.

 

19 minutes ago, TheDonbytheDee said:

True, but Labour need someone and it ain't Streeting or Rayner and it sure as fuck isn't Starmer.

Reform in power 2029, isn't appealing.

 

Isn't this just a form of denial? Reform aren't going to be elected in 2029 because of their ability, they're a symptom of a system in collapse. The notion that switching Starmer for Burnham, or Labour for Tory or SNP will make the slightest difference to the structural issues we face is a little silly. I actually don't believe that you, or anyone else on here, has the slightest faith that Burnham could change things to the degree required. It's a call to magical thinking. Extremely unfair on people like Burnham, or Starmer even, but there's still a schadenfreude watching them squirm along the way. The only response to that suggestion will be platitudes that things will be slightly better, or that we "have to do something". 

It's fairly clear that these sleekit politicians have jumped the gun in their desperation for power. With the absolute shitfest that is Hormuz, the best plan is to quietly wait and see what happens and let Starmer take the meltdown that occurs when we move to rationing. 

Agree the lack of strength in the LP is pretty damning. Suspect there is a pretty short list of candidates who want to throw themselves on the hand grenade at this point. Rayner is most ‘likeable’ and in normal circumstances would be most likely to appeal to the public but as someone said, our right wing media would have her in the woodchipper within weeks for walking on the cracks in the pavement while Nigel grifts his way up the polls. 
Feels like there is a sense of inevitability about Reform at this point. It’s a bit like Jambos winning title for me. Two historically dominant powers have an existential crisis and an odious, wanna be serious one emerges to threaten the status quo and it’s not the one I want 😜🤣

Edited May 12May 12 by Ajja

You’re right that they’re terrified of the press. If only someone in power was in a position to order a follow up to the Leveson Inquiry. Unfortunately, that might reveal what the useless prick did to get the job 

 

 

16 minutes ago, Ajja said:

the woodchipper

Good work.

“Woodchippy” would just be SO wrong.

More power to your derailleurs. ✊

On 09/05/2026 at 12:14, TheDonbytheDee said:

If you read Private Eye, they give a fortnightly round up of the shit Reform councillors get up too in England and how many have stepped down.

Some PE readers think they are being unfairly victimised!

I know there are gluepots in all parties, but it's the norm for Reform.

 

First day on the job and a Reform councillor is wanting action on UFO sightings in Doncaster 

 

26 minutes ago, Mason89 said:

First day on the job and a Reform councillor is wanting action on UFO sightings in Doncaster 

 

Possible thinks they are taking in immigrants.

7 minutes ago, TheDonbytheDee said:

Possible thinks they are taking in immigrants.

STOP THE FLYING SAUCERS!!!

37 minutes ago, swaddon said:

STOP THE FLYING SAUCERS!!!

You've just written 50% of their 2029 manifesto.