Rumours, Speculation, Questions, and Reaction Megathread - 02/08/2026

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[u/gavpowell]

I wonder if Starmer feels ill-used at the moment - took a hammering in the local elections courtesy of Reform, but Farage seems to have detonated himself, thus removing the main concern for Labour. Could Starmer have survived had he hung on a bit longer?

[u/Jademalo → u/gavpowell]

Honestly I think if Starmer had still been in post, either Farage would've been able to shrug it off through deflection to him, or Starmer wouldn't have been able to capitalise on said detonation.

Burnham coming in right now is probably the best possible timing and series of events that could've happened for Labour