Letters to the Editor – week ending 21 June 2026 #2

Read what people have been writing to our editor about this week. Find out how to share your own views here.

Keirgrets: We have a few

Hi Labour List,

As a long standing labour voter and member of the party I am writing to say how disgusted I am with the parliamentary Labour Party. They have allowed the media and their own self interest to embarrass us all.

Whatever happened to integrity, trust, responsibility? Our MP’s were elected to serve us not themselves. When elected you have at least five years to serve as an MP or maybe a Mayor. You should not be changing your mind less than half way through. It’s not a game, it’s an obligation.

By all means disagree with the leader occasionally behind closed doors. Kier Starmer made mistakes but was delivering as leader on many fronts that really matter.

Our parliamentary party of MP’s are an embarrassing bunch of opportunists and clearly a lot of them are not to be trusted. How do we end up with a coronation of Andy Burnham who could not be trusted to fulfil his responsibilities as Manchester Mayor.

We are now no better than defecting and plotting Tories and I hope people see it for what it is. I need a stable government with a Leader who makes steady progress not a show pony with a Northern accent.

By the way I am from the North East (accent and all).

Regards

John Gill

*****

Absolutely devastated that Keir Starmer has resigned; It’s a dark day for the UK and also the Labour Party. The country did not vote for Andy Burnham in July ‘24, the best Prime Minister we’ve had for a generation has just been defenestrated because of the party’s myopic and cowardly outlook. Labour does not deserve to be in power and come September ‘27 following an inevitable general election, they won’t be.

Regards,

N. Muir

*****

Dear Editor,

I would contend that it is the PLP itself which is preventing debate of policy & future direction of the Labour Party. It was very obvious to us members that the membership was to be excluded & a pressure put on SKS to quit. He did so – much to the distress of many Labour members. So 3-400 MPs were dictating how the leadership should be managed & didn’t want a debate about policy just a shoe in for Burnham. Many,including some MPs, feel this is totally wrong. 

 Can we please get the word out more widely & that any MP who does throw his hat in the ring such as Al Carns is treated with respect as he will be doing a service to the party to enable a policy debate to ensue.

Thanks,

Yours,

Elizabeth Chell

*****

Dear Emma,

Democracy in this party really is a joke sometimes. Bev Craig has already been announced as our candidate for the mayor of Greater Manchester. The nomination period seems to have lasted all of 2 days, and the members got no say.

In a similar vein, it takes 80 nominations to get on the ballot paper for leader. There are 403 labour MPs. That means we could have a maximum of 5 candidates to choose from. That is what we (the membership) deserve – the widest field possible, all factions represented. Instead it looks as though we’re going to get a coronation. Have we not learned from Gordon Brown in 2007 that coronations actually weaken the winner?

Also I resent Starmer saying he would fight any leadership challenge, then leaving the contest like a coward. He should’ve stood so we, the membership, could reject him fair and square.

Yours,

Benj Eckford
Newcastle upon Tyne North CLP

• SHARE: If you have anything to share that we should be looking into or publishing about this story – or any other topic involving Labour– contact us (strictly anonymously if you wish) at [email protected].
• SUBSCRIBE: Sign up to LabourList’s morning email here for the best briefing on everything Labour, every weekday morning.
• BECOME A FRIEND: If you enjoyed this, why not consider becoming a Friend of LabourList? Help sustain our journalism, and of course Friends do get benefits…
• PARTNER: If you or your organisation might be interested in partnering with us on sponsored events or projects, email [email protected].
• ADVERTISE: If your organisation would like to advertise or run sponsored pieces on LabourList‘s daily newsletter or website, contact our exclusive ad partners Total Politics at [email protected].