Alastair's thoughts on the by-election...

I'm born and bred in Yorkshire. I was a Labour member. I will never vote Labour again because of Israel and Gaza. Israel are committing genocide and he says this.

The Media have hounded Starmer from the get go!When was the last time you saw Starmer being interviewed with any civility, it’s all whataboutery and gotcha’s!He has got to be the most maligned PM we have ever had, who has had a mountain of things to restore because of the Tory’s

Gaza was an absolute watershed for me. How can you even think of voting for a party who can’t bring themselves to condemn a genocide of 70,000+ thousand people and not only that, they actively armed Israel and gave them cover. Nothing else gets a look in after that.

@campbellclaret The Green Party resonate with ordinary working people. Is that extremist or populist? Maybe to smug, ‘I’m alright, Jack’ dyed in the wool blue Labour centrist it is. And that’s where you’re going wrong, Alistair.

Well, the only message Labour was spreading was - “Vote for us to stop the Tories / Reform”. That is not a vision of a better Britain. Green are pushing for wealth equality and more public ownership of house and infrastructure. That resonates with a lot of the public.

Who gives a fuck what this pathetic war criminal thinks about anything.

It is a mistake to see Gaza as just an issue for Muslims It is an issue with a wide cut across ages, demographics Brits don’t like bullies and Israel is a bully Brits don’t like thieves and the settlers are stealing land Brits don’t like murderers and the IDF are murderers

No one cares what Alistair thinks. He has had his day……and failed miserably. Move on.

@campbellclaret You don’t know how the general populace feel anymore about issues as you spend all your time at 1% conferences like Davos.

This was the Labour Party candidate. Not what you'd call a socialist but I bet she's Israel approved

I'm genuinely intrigued by the low coverage of the Tories in this by-election. Whilst it's bad news for Labour and Reform, this is surely catastrophic for the Conservatives to only poll 706 votes.

I'm a white middle class atheist(albeit still with the Catholic guilt) pensioner. Gaza was the final straw for me. Starmer must have already known the beheaded babies story was a lie when he said Israel had the right to deprive the Palestinians of food and water.

Another load of tripe from the self-appointed boys of modern "progressive" political thought. Labour and you have never been on the left, and given your support for Starmer ( genocide and neoliberalism) are also not progressive. Your thoughts are an embarrassment and ridiculous.

promised change. They promised to be transparent, and nothing like the conservatives. As it stands, they are the same as the conservatives, if not worse. Their manifesto is trashed; they can’t finish a consistent policy. They gaslight and lie, never answer a question. Their sleaze levels are worse than Boris's were. Everything is more expensive, and nothing is better than when they gained power. Do you honestly believe Labour is trying to do anything other than maintain its position of power and meet its ideological goals, regardless of the needs of the British people?

We don't want austerity. We want essential services under public ownership. But also, we don't like genocide. Starmer showed us the door. So we left. That's it.

Devolution Max" This is the reality of it which is never mentioned by any of them within the corrupt duopoly. The last thing Keir Starmer's Labour Party seems interested in is genuinely supporting the working class. In reality, for ordinary working people, the outlook involves more austerity measures combined with the erosion of hard-fought workers' rights. Under Starmers leadership, the government is pushing ahead with Freeports and Special Economic Zones (SEZs). These initiatives come at a massive projected cost to UK taxpayers—estimated at £64 billion over the coming years (with some sources citing figures around £64 billion 840 million across a 25-year period).This public money effectively subsidises major corporations through generous tax breaks, deregulation, and other incentives. Benefiting companies reportedly include BlackRock, DP World (owners of P&O Ferries), Blackstone, Deloitte, Amazon, Meta, Apple, ExxonMobil, BP, Uber, Babcock, Peel Group, Otter Ports, and Macquarie. These zones often operate with minimal regulation, offering no taxes for up to 10 years, along with long-term leases (such as 25 years). Critics describe them as creating 100% privatised fiefdoms under the guise of economic development. For residents living within the zones' influence—often spanning areas up to a 75 km radius—the implications are severe. Rights can be diminished, and corporations gain extraordinary powers, including the ability to compulsorily purchase people's homes, properties, and land at prices they themselves determine. In short, what is presented as a boost for growth and jobs appears to many as a corporate handout funded by taxpayers, while delivering little real benefit—and potential harm—to the very working-class communities it claims to help.

@campbellclaret Gaza is huge for voters. Many people are appalled and enraged by both the previous government & now this Labour government’s immoral and unforgivable enabling of a genocide that we can all see daily ongoing on our phones. It’s about humanity not religion.

Leaning right was always a massive mistake. Corbyn got more votes in each of his elections than Starmer did in labours “landslide” victory. Starmer/MacSweeney took for granted the left side of their base. They are compelled by the media too much. They need a spine & identity

The Greens do talk about "green stuff", it's incredibly important but just not the pressing issue in the UK right now, when some families and children are barely surviving right now.

Alastair, reflect on your own responsibility for the way the LP has ended up here. You & Blair bear ultimate responsibility for turning the LP into a war mongering, authoritarian Party, that panders only to billionaires, with MP’s just there to line their own pockets.

@campbellclaret I will NOT, under any circumstance, vote for ANY party that is complicit or endorses the genocide of the Palestinians.

Why even ask Campbell? He and Blair were the architects of Labour's demise.

If Labour started saying they wanted change “For the Many, not the Few” you and Mandelson would get the band back together to take them down again

I think their problem is they don’t have an Alastair Campbell. Whichever way you look at it, Keir appears very ‘dry and boring’. He could be the best PM ever, but that still wouldn’t translate just because of the type of person he is. Therefore there needs to be better media spin, more charisma and noise about what the party is doing. At the moment it’s all kind of geared around reform, and Labour are trying to please all people but I don’t think that’s the way to play it. I think they need to return to their leftist roots also, rather than trying to be a centrist party not sure what it stands for

how come the bookies had greens odds on from day one ? Is Paddy Power better at politics than @RestIsPolitics Or is there a conspiracy of silence as sectarianism rears its ugly head ..

War criminal Campbell forgot to mention the most important part, fellow war criminal Starmer's invitation to leave Labour.

Israel/Gaza/WB lost the Democrats the GE and the same will, quite rightly, happen to Labour. In the US it let in the extreme RW and that could well happen here. That Labour could allow that possiblility is unforgiveable.

Fuck off you pathetic war criminal bully

Labour should start making the case to rejoin SM and CU.

Labour took their base for granted and tacked to the right, chasing Reform voters. Total support for any Israeli actions in Gaza, a blind eye towards the West Bank. The 1st action of this Gov was to scrap the Winter Fuel Allowance, as opposed to any action against the wealthy.

Labours problem was moving to the right. Watching a Labour cabinet standing boasting they were proud Zionists, while being funded by friends of Isreal during an ongoing genocide, was stomach churning and quite frankly the straw that broke them, for me.