SDP Leader William Clouston What’s the point in Labour changing leader? with Christo Foufas GBNEWS

Added: 2026-06-02

[00:00:00]for that, but a lot I want to talk to you about when it comes to labor.

[00:00:06]Interesting front page on the I weekend today.

[00:00:10]Burnham would face battle to beat Farage in general election, polling says.

[00:00:18]And it's interesting, isn't it? Because of course, there is potentially a battle for labor leaders coming up. We're not sure whether that's going to be happening.

[00:00:29]Starmer is still prime minister, and it looks like if this polling is to be believed, that labor's best chance of a new leader to win the next election won't beat Nigel Farage.

[00:00:46]So, my question is what's the point?

[00:00:50]What is the point in going through all of this nonsense? What is the point in changing labor leader? What is the point in this self-indulgent claptrap of them all talking to each other and being so insular with each other when no one really cares? And most importantly, I don't think that anyone thinks that anything will change.

[00:01:12]Whoever is prime minister, whatever leader that we have of the labor party at the moment or in the next few months, or whether we stick with Keir Starmer, nothing is going to change. Now, of course, it's all very interesting for the media and for political geeks like me and for some of us that follow it and for some of us that want to report on it people who are really official aficionados on this, but for you and the things you care about day-to-day and your life getting better, well, do you genuinely think that anything would change if we had a new prime minister? Genuinely? Cuz I don't. And I'll tell you one of the reasons why I don't think it would change. And I'll I'll you one of the reasons why this is just absolute just a nonsense self-indulgent festival of lefties all arguing with each other and not thinking about anyone outside of Westminster and probably North London in a wine bar, one of the few that's still open that Rachel Reeves' tax rises haven't caused to close.

[00:02:13]It's because of the fact that Labour for months now, I would even go so far as to say almost years, have only been talking to their backbench. That's it. It's the only people they talk to. Keir Starmer, any policy he comes up with is just for the backbench.

[00:02:28]The backbench smelt blood when they didn't get through even quite moderate benefit cuts. And so any leader, any leader that comes or any leader that remains, if Keir Starmer stays, anything they do will have to be through the prism of keeping the Labour backbench happy.

[00:02:46]And keeping the Labour backbench happy means keeping with high taxes, keeping with a massive benefits bill, probably not really clamping down that hard on immigration because it goes against the principles of those people on the backbenches. And so nothing will change.

[00:03:06]I'm sorry if I sound like a broken record, but nothing will change. And if they're not even likely to win the next general election as a result of this, then what is the point?

[00:03:21]Let me know if you agree. GBNews.com forward slash your say. I would love to know whether you think this is just a self-indulgent festival of the bull talking to each other and not the rest of the country. Well, joining me now to discuss this is the leader of the Social Democratic Party, William Clouston.

[00:03:39]Hello there, William.

[00:03:41]>> Hi, Christopher.

[00:03:42]>> Thanks for taking the time to talk to us this afternoon here on GB News. I mean, I I I don't mean to be defeatist, but I can't I can't but feel like this is very insular and very sort of Westminster-esque and everyone sort of talking about it and who's excited about it are all political aficionados, but actually I think the person on the street, there will be no significant change to their life if they change leader. And as it turns out, no significant change to Labour when it comes to their prospects in the next election. So, what's the point?

[00:04:15]>> Well, I think that you gave a very good review on what we're witnessing in the failure of governments to see through with the same leader that was elected is just a political crisis, sort of symptom of decay in the political system. You're quite right, it won't change anything substantial because anything substantial has to be got through the Labour backbenchers whose attitude is childish and innumerate. As you say, you saw that on modest welfare reform.

[00:04:42]But it will do a couple of things.

[00:04:45]If Burnham were to become Prime Minister, it would probably give a a temporary boost to the Labour Party. I think that's undoubtedly true because you could hardly be worse than Starmer.

[00:04:57]Burnham is probably more likable. He's certainly a better communicator, political communicator than the Prime Minister. So, it would do that. But I agree, all the chronic problems that we care about, the problems that seem to be intractable, the open border on the South Coast, the housing crisis, the energy crisis which the Labour Party is making worse with net zero, and all the other issues, trade deficit, fiscal deficit, all of those remain. And Burnham is on record as taking a really quite a foolish and embarrassing view of the bond market saying that the you know, >> [clears throat] >> if he were leader, he wouldn't kowtow to it. He's going to find out the hard way if he comes into government like that.

[00:05:37]So, I agree, nothing much substantial will improve our lives and therefore I think the Labour Party's prospects at the next general election are poor whoever leads it.

[00:05:47]>> Can Can we widen this discussion out a bit just away from solely Andy Burnham, cuz I do want to talk about some of the other contenders as well that are being mooted. I mean, we don't know that they're contenders at the moment. But, Wes Streeting, Angela Rayner, potentially Ed Miliband. I mean, my worry is that whether it's them or whether it it it's anyone else, there will be a temporary boost and a temporary reprieve when it comes to the way in which the media view them and the way in which those real Labour loyalists view them, because everyone will say, "Oh, there you go. It's another reset. It's the ultimate reset."

[00:06:28]Or those loyalists will say, "Well, look, you know, give them a chance. Give them a year. Give them a 2 years, whatever." And so, I I I take your analysis that you just mentioned about Andy Burnham, but really I think it could apply to Angela Rayner, Ed Miliband, Wes Streeting, anyone else that is being mooted as a potential leader, right?

[00:06:47]>> Yeah, that's true. I mean, of the ones you mentioned, I think probably the most politically competent is probably Miliband. And actually, I've I've said on record of saying that I I thought for a long time he'd be the most likely next leader. Why? Because if you look at the actual electorate, which is mainly the PLP and then the Labour members and some unions, among that constituency, Miliband is the most popular. And although it is crazy and it's beggaring the country and it's deindustrializing energy-intensive industries, his net-zero proposals are are popular among that constituency. And they they matter in terms of the vote. Um Rayner, I think would be an utter disaster. I don't think she's intellectually capable of of withstanding a job like that. I think that's that's it should be out of the question in my view. Um Streeting is not popular among the PLP and and look at Labour list. I mean, he he says he makes speeches about rejoining the EU and preposterous proposals like that because he's unpopular. I think frankly, in that electorate, he's too in inverted commas centrist or right-wing for to be elected as Labour leader. So, I don't think it'll be him. But, as I say, I don't think it makes any difference. I don't think it makes any difference. I don't take I don't take polls projections 3 years forward to the next general election very seriously. I don't think you can do that. I I think you can have a view. You can have your own view based on political history in terms of what you think might happen. Political history says the the Tory party slowly recover. That's what it says. And I know I have said that to a lot of people and people think it just can't happen given the betrayals on the Boris wave and the rest of it. But, history says they slowly recover. And I'll just flag this up for you in terms of the next general election.

[00:08:36]In British political history to date, the biggest challenge to the two-party system is that of my party in the '80s, the SDP. And in March '82, the SDP was polling at over 50%, right? And we ended up getting 25% with the Liberal Dems.

[00:08:52]So, you've got to if you if I were a Reform I mean, Reform are doing very well, but if I were a Reform supporter, I would question whether they're actually doing well enough to win a general election outright.

[00:09:05]>> Sorry, I'm still like I'm still literally shivering at the fact that words were that Ed Miliband is the most politically competent out of that lot that you just listed. Honestly, I feel like we've got splinters on our knuckles from the bottom of the barrel being scraped. William, really good to talk to you even though I think I'm quite depressed now. That's William Clouston who is the leader of the Social Democratic Party. Now, obviously, you just heard some