DisMember writes
Starmer plays the lame duck, while Burnham adjusts the crown. One wonders if Darren Jones has simply accepted his role as a flying monkey in Burnham’s new Oz.
The historical echo
Darren Jones
17 July 2017 · House of Commons
What they said
A Labour MP finds Parliament less Oz, more a backstage scramble by egocentric men propping up a fading premier.
"Instead, much like Dorothy and her obviously disappointed dog, Toto, I have failed to find a Government of mandates, leadership or stature and instead, behind the curtain, I have found a group of middle-aged men protecting their egos in a bid to take over from a lame duck Prime Minister."
DisMember on 17 July 2026 — why this matters today
There is a distinct whiff of regional supremacy in the Westminster air. Steve Rotheram has been on the Today programme acting as the warm-up act for Andy Burnham’s coronation, warning that anyone expecting a continuation of the Starmer era is "absolutely deluded." Sir Keir, meanwhile, is packing his forensic highlighters, preparing for that final, melancholy trip to Buckingham Palace as a textbook lame duck.
How thoroughly the tables have turned since 2017. Back then, a fresh-faced Darren Jones stood up in the Commons to express his profound disappointment with the Theresa May administration. Expecting the gleaming Emerald City of political leadership, Jones lamented that, much like Dorothy, he had pulled back the curtain only to find "a group of middle-aged men protecting their egos in a bid to take over from a lame duck Prime Minister."
Nine years on, Jones's own party is executing precisely that manoeuvre. The middle-aged men are no longer bickering Tories but triumphant northern mayors, their egos insulated by "Manchesterism". Starmer plays the lame duck, while Burnham adjusts the crown. One wonders if Jones still feels like Dorothy, or if he has simply accepted his role as a flying monkey in Burnham’s new Oz.
The contemporary echo
Darren Jones’s 2017 critique of Tory leadership struggles perfectly describes the current Labour transition, as Andy Burnham and his mayoral allies push a lame duck Keir Starmer out of Number 10.
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Search Parliament →The sketch above is written by AI (Gemini) and reflects editorial interpretation, not verified fact. The source quote is verbatim from Hansard. Verify against the original Hansard record.