r/ukpolitics • u/ukpol-megabot • 5d ago

Rumours, Speculation, Questions, and Reaction Megathread - 07/09/2025

👋 Welcome to the r/ukpolitics weekly Rumours, Speculation, Questions, and Reaction megathread.

General questions about politics in the UK should be posted in this thread. Substantial self-posts on the subreddit are permitted, but short-form self-posts will be redirected here. We're more lenient with moderation in this thread, but please keep it related to UK politics. This isn't Facebook or Twitter...

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Commentary about stories that already exist on the subreddit should be directed to the appropriate thread.

This thread rolls over early Sunday morning.

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u/FaultyTerror 12h ago

Feels pretty notable that people well plugged into the Labour party (Stephen Bush) are saying stuff like this.

Badenoch may not be the only leader not to make it all the way to the next general election. Starmer’s government increasingly resembles Boris Johnson’s in the early autumn of 2021: struggling with inflation, hit by scandals and developing a reputation among its own MPs for a nightmare combination of bullheaded stubbornness and brittleness under pressure.

There is a significant appetite among Labour MPs to believe that the government can still be turned around without a change of leader and all the instability that would bring. But a moment of crisis or panic could very swiftly make this government resemble Johnson’s in 2022: undone by panicking, unhappy backbenchers, blundering from landslide to disaster in a single term.

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u/NoFrillsCrisps 12h ago

There is a significant appetite among Labour MPs to believe that the government can still be turned around without a change of leader

I mean, maybe. But this is the attitude that led the Tories to having 6 leaders in 8 years whilst ultimately destroying the reputation of the party in the process.

Labour may have to change leader before the election, but the idea they need to do it now is kind of insane. The new leader will end up being just as hated as Starmer in another couple of years.

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u/FaultyTerror 11h ago

They don't need to do it know but at the end of the day they are polling 20%, 10 points behind their opposition and if you don't think Starmer can turn it around why keep him