Stephen Bush
@stephenkb.bsky.social
Associate editor and columnist @financialtimes.com. Post too often about culture, public policy, management, politics, nerd stuff, Arsenal, wosoc. Try my UK politics newsletter for free here: www.ft.com/tryinsidepolitics
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Stephen Bush
@stephenkb.bsky.social
· Feb 22
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No it's not inevitable 'given leader selection processes'. What about the Labour party rulebook makes you think that is the case?
February 5, 2026 at 11:03 AM
No it's not inevitable 'given leader selection processes'. What about the Labour party rulebook makes you think that is the case?
Reposted by Stephen Bush
I think @stephenkb.bsky.social dubbed it “convenientism” - what’s the most immediately convenient thing to do to make a problem go away.
The Mandelson saga is doubly bad for Starmer & co. First because it goes against their supposed brand of probity. Second because it fits their actual brand of not listening to concerns from their colleagues and majoring on ideas that only make sense in transactional terms or getting through the week
What is the point of Keir Starmer staying as prime minister?
February 5, 2026 at 10:19 AM
I think @stephenkb.bsky.social dubbed it “convenientism” - what’s the most immediately convenient thing to do to make a problem go away.
Reposted by Stephen Bush
The only way Labour can win the next election is by governing well.
That might not be enough, but it’s the bare minimum.
The questions to be asking about any potential new PM are “what is their agenda and can they achieve it?”
Not “do they currently poll well?”
Or “can they handle a media round?”
That might not be enough, but it’s the bare minimum.
The questions to be asking about any potential new PM are “what is their agenda and can they achieve it?”
Not “do they currently poll well?”
Or “can they handle a media round?”
February 5, 2026 at 10:37 AM
The only way Labour can win the next election is by governing well.
That might not be enough, but it’s the bare minimum.
The questions to be asking about any potential new PM are “what is their agenda and can they achieve it?”
Not “do they currently poll well?”
Or “can they handle a media round?”
That might not be enough, but it’s the bare minimum.
The questions to be asking about any potential new PM are “what is their agenda and can they achieve it?”
Not “do they currently poll well?”
Or “can they handle a media round?”
A sudden rise in 'filing up has got more expensive' angry messages from motorists to MPs.
February 5, 2026 at 11:01 AM
A sudden rise in 'filing up has got more expensive' angry messages from motorists to MPs.
Reposted by Stephen Bush
February 5, 2026 at 10:37 AM
Today's newsletter: I haven't seen this much anger from the PLP since the summer of 2016, when they tried to get rid of their leader as a result. Same positiion now, but impossible to tell if Starmer's fall will be short or long:
Every doomed prime minister has a moment — this is Starmer’s
This end phase of his leadership requires a crisis or resignation to tip things over the edge
www.ft.com
February 5, 2026 at 10:51 AM
Today's newsletter: I haven't seen this much anger from the PLP since the summer of 2016, when they tried to get rid of their leader as a result. Same positiion now, but impossible to tell if Starmer's fall will be short or long:
The 'who is best from a subject header' perspective had not yet occurred to me in truth.
February 5, 2026 at 1:54 AM
The 'who is best from a subject header' perspective had not yet occurred to me in truth.
Starting a new season on Football Manager in the usual way: getting absolutely humped in the Champions Cup by a European team, this time FC Barcelona Femení.
February 5, 2026 at 1:42 AM
Starting a new season on Football Manager in the usual way: getting absolutely humped in the Champions Cup by a European team, this time FC Barcelona Femení.
Yeah, good shout. It's a shame because I *like* text-based media platforms and selfishly, I like it when people actually see the links I post, and for different reasons neither Threads nor X are interested in that but visibly Reddit and LinkedIn are gonna be the last places for that.
February 5, 2026 at 1:21 AM
Yeah, good shout. It's a shame because I *like* text-based media platforms and selfishly, I like it when people actually see the links I post, and for different reasons neither Threads nor X are interested in that but visibly Reddit and LinkedIn are gonna be the last places for that.
I'm aware given my beat this is a very 'man who has only seen the Boss Baby', but it really is a lot like a political party in opposition going 'this time we're going to do it right'. These are things that did not work for Twitter in the late 2000s and will not work here IMO.
February 5, 2026 at 1:09 AM
I'm aware given my beat this is a very 'man who has only seen the Boss Baby', but it really is a lot like a political party in opposition going 'this time we're going to do it right'. These are things that did not work for Twitter in the late 2000s and will not work here IMO.
I don't think it works at scale at all.
February 5, 2026 at 1:08 AM
I don't think it works at scale at all.
I mean at the very least they should just incorporate Blockenheimer (RIP) into the basic set of tools available to all users, as basically that is clearly what they want users to do.
February 5, 2026 at 1:04 AM
I mean at the very least they should just incorporate Blockenheimer (RIP) into the basic set of tools available to all users, as basically that is clearly what they want users to do.
Really glad to see you back! But yes, I really wish they would just say the obvious truth, which is they have an ideological commitment to 'moderate it yourselves'.
February 5, 2026 at 1:02 AM
Really glad to see you back! But yes, I really wish they would just say the obvious truth, which is they have an ideological commitment to 'moderate it yourselves'.
I always found it bleakly funny going to tenants' meetings about block repairs how people would go 'MPs would never let Parliament get like this!'
February 5, 2026 at 12:57 AM
I always found it bleakly funny going to tenants' meetings about block repairs how people would go 'MPs would never let Parliament get like this!'
Reposted by Stephen Bush
And they say reducing our dependence on the US is impossible
February 5, 2026 at 12:50 AM
And they say reducing our dependence on the US is impossible
You'll know we're ready to rejoin the EU when everyone starts referring to scandals as 'affairs', again.
February 5, 2026 at 12:49 AM
You'll know we're ready to rejoin the EU when everyone starts referring to scandals as 'affairs', again.
Hey, you know what's interesting? Just realised this is the first political scandal in recent times in the United Kingdom not to get a '-gate' suffix.
February 5, 2026 at 12:48 AM
Hey, you know what's interesting? Just realised this is the first political scandal in recent times in the United Kingdom not to get a '-gate' suffix.
In the daytime, the places you are most likely to see them are PCH, the terrace. It's late at night when your intrepid reporter is having a drink with an MP that they come crawling out in the offices.
February 5, 2026 at 12:35 AM
In the daytime, the places you are most likely to see them are PCH, the terrace. It's late at night when your intrepid reporter is having a drink with an MP that they come crawling out in the offices.
Wasn't that haunting tbh. Sad because it meant we were going to leave the EU, but I had come to terms with that during the 2014 Euros in a lot of ways.
February 5, 2026 at 12:28 AM
Wasn't that haunting tbh. Sad because it meant we were going to leave the EU, but I had come to terms with that during the 2014 Euros in a lot of ways.
The perspective makes it seem bigger, it is a mouse.
February 5, 2026 at 12:26 AM
The perspective makes it seem bigger, it is a mouse.
We really go in for the 'most humiliating transfer of power possible' in that you go from 'the heart of one of the most centralised democracies in the world' to 'a place that feels like a horrible hotel in the 90s, crawling with mice'.
February 5, 2026 at 12:23 AM
We really go in for the 'most humiliating transfer of power possible' in that you go from 'the heart of one of the most centralised democracies in the world' to 'a place that feels like a horrible hotel in the 90s, crawling with mice'.
Even without looking to see the moment, I know for a fact the answer is 'yes', because Norman Shaw South (where the leader of the opposition's office is) is absolutely riddled with mice, even by the standards of Parliament.
You tell me.
February 5, 2026 at 12:21 AM
Even without looking to see the moment, I know for a fact the answer is 'yes', because Norman Shaw South (where the leader of the opposition's office is) is absolutely riddled with mice, even by the standards of Parliament.
Reposted by Stephen Bush
Having a leader who can perform charisma is not actually a substitute for having a set of ideas to improve the country that you think the electorate will buy into.
February 5, 2026 at 12:14 AM
Having a leader who can perform charisma is not actually a substitute for having a set of ideas to improve the country that you think the electorate will buy into.
Reposted by Stephen Bush
This is all true but also it's yet another sign if a party that wishes politics would go away and they wouldn't have to make hard decisions.
It doesn't matter how good the honeymoon was, if you don't make the relationship work when you get home your marriage is dead either way.
It doesn't matter how good the honeymoon was, if you don't make the relationship work when you get home your marriage is dead either way.
The Al Carns stuff is a real “the PLP has learned nothing and forgotten nothing” thing.
Talk has turned to who replaces Starmer (again).
Labour MP tonight:
“As far as I'm concerned, Starmer is done. What matters is what's next. If it's Angela, the honeymoon lasts a week. If it's Wes, a month. If it's Al, 6 months. Hard to see how it turns around beyond that.”
Labour MP tonight:
“As far as I'm concerned, Starmer is done. What matters is what's next. If it's Angela, the honeymoon lasts a week. If it's Wes, a month. If it's Al, 6 months. Hard to see how it turns around beyond that.”
February 5, 2026 at 12:14 AM
This is all true but also it's yet another sign if a party that wishes politics would go away and they wouldn't have to make hard decisions.
It doesn't matter how good the honeymoon was, if you don't make the relationship work when you get home your marriage is dead either way.
It doesn't matter how good the honeymoon was, if you don't make the relationship work when you get home your marriage is dead either way.
Are you caught up yet? Because yeah I am basically with you *other* than I think he might have just made a terrible, game-losing mistake.
February 5, 2026 at 12:12 AM
Are you caught up yet? Because yeah I am basically with you *other* than I think he might have just made a terrible, game-losing mistake.