Messiahnic leaders? Whoever leads the Labour Party, internal divisions will stil be around

 Makerfield: Beginning or End of a Political Era

Disappointment led to a categoric defeat for both Labour and Conservative. Three political parties benefitted from it: Reform, Greens and Lib Dems.

In Lambeth Borough Council, a council that used to be a flagship of the Labour Party, the Green Party is callenging the Labour Party and on June 1st 2026, the Green Party might fundamentally change the way the council is run by getting rid of the cabinet system. This means that the Labour Party will no longer be able to use a small team to control the way things are done and decisions will be taken not just by a few, but by the whole ensemble of Councillors elected to represent Lambeth residents.

This is a major change and we wait to see if similar changes happen in other local authorities.

Now, going back to the issue of the by-election of an MP in Wakerfield, there are several possibilities. Andy Burnham is elected MP or Andy Burnham is not elected MP. If Andy Burnham is elected MP, he will have to have enough support in a leadership challenge to unseat Keir Starmer. Then again there are two options: he manages to win or he fails to get enough support.

If Andy Burnham is not elected MP, then we go back to square one and talk about other contenders within the Labour Party. There are other issues like who is the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Is it Rachel Reeves or Ed Milliband? Would Keir Starmer choose to negotiate a new Cabinent to appease his opponents?

Of course, there is also the issue of who is going to be the new Manchester Mayor as Andy Burnham stance to become MP has left the Mayoral seat vacant.

Now, lets think for a moment that Andy Burnham manages to get elected MP and manages to become Prime Minister. From the start, he would face enormous challenges inherited from Keir Starmer's administration. Iran, Ukraine, energy crisis, illegal immigration rising unemployment, high taxation, health, education, and so forth. Changing a Prime Minister does not mean that automatically everything will be sorted. Troublesome relationships will have to be dealt with. Will Andy Burnham be a better communicator? Will he be able to control Labour factions? If he cannot succeed then, without expectations and hope for an improvement, the panorama for the Labour Party will be even worse.