Manchester mayor Andy Burnham might actually have a chance of saving Labour from itself, which is exactly why Keir Starmer won’t give him a chance, argues Ash Sarkar.
Re: the 2nd quote, I can definitely see it being a problem if Labour can’t remind the electorate about Tory chaos (without being accused of hipocracy). Optimistically, Tory chaos rhetoric has two functions: alleviates “buyer’s remorse” in people who voted Labour; and it throws more mud at the toxic Tory brand, driving their voters to Reform. If they can deploy it properly then they’ll get another majority as the right’s vote is split within constituencies, leaving the Labour candidate as the winner under our FPTP system.
Re: the 2nd quote, I can definitely see it being a problem if Labour can’t remind the electorate about Tory chaos (without being accused of hipocracy). Optimistically, Tory chaos rhetoric has two functions: alleviates “buyer’s remorse” in people who voted Labour; and it throws more mud at the toxic Tory brand, driving their voters to Reform. If they can deploy it properly then they’ll get another majority as the right’s vote is split within constituencies, leaving the Labour candidate as the winner under our FPTP system.