This week felt like two weeks crammed into one.
Amid the recent turmoil in Westminster, and following Andy Burnham's landslide victory in Makerfield, Cabinet ministers have lined up to urge the Prime Minister to set out a departure timetable. According to The Times, Keir Starmer is now considering resigning.
The Makerfield by-election may turn out to be the most consequential by-election in modern British politics. Consequential not just for the Prime Minister and the Labour Party, but for the kind of political choices we can expect from government in the months ahead.
Labour's manifesto still stands, on paper. But should Andy Burnham go on to win a leadership contest, we can expect a new strategy and a new set of priorities, potentially including a restart in the government's approach to LGBTQ+ issues. Our colleagues at Attitude have examined Burnham's LGBTQ+ track record this week and concluded that the receipts are there: a commitment to LGBTQ+ equality that long predates it being politically convenient.
Even if Burnham fails to become Prime Minister for whatever reason, his campaign has achieved something significant: it has united the left. Labour strategists will be studying this closely as a potential strategy to prevent a Reform UK government in 2029. If the goal going forward is to unite the left, then progressive policies will need to be renegotiated and repositioned.
But this week had far more to offer than Westminster politics
In Brighton, Glasgow and Liverpool, we witnessed well-organised counter-protests against anti-immigration marches. Scene had boots on the ground in Brighton and shared images and video live on social media throughout the day.
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