Idris Elba ’emerges as Labour’s top choice to replace Sadiq Khan as London Mayor’
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/idris-elba-favourite-replace-sadiq-khan-labour-mayor-candidate-knife-b1219642.html
Posted by tylerthe-theatre
Idris Elba ’emerges as Labour’s top choice to replace Sadiq Khan as London Mayor’
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/idris-elba-favourite-replace-sadiq-khan-labour-mayor-candidate-knife-b1219642.html
Posted by tylerthe-theatre
30 Comments
We should make a Live Aid-style song called “Stop Making Knives Pointy.”
In regard to the mayor thing, I agree with the sentiment of the photo.
But does he want todo it? And his acting career? Is he going to rake time off for filming. I think it’s just kite flying
I wanted to see him starring as 007, not as London Mayor…
An actor being mayor is completely absurd… Won’t he just be controlled by his staffers if he doesn’t have a single original idea of his own about how to run a city?
Celebrities are great campaigners and activists, but they’re terrible at governing.
Please god no lol. He’s a fine actor, that’s enough.
Got schooled way too easily by Clay Davis to do well in politics
As Mayor of London you can get away with just bigging up the city and leading some campaigns. It’s not a massively policy heavy job. It’s why Boris was a much better Mayor than PM. He sounds good for it imo.
I don’t believe it to be honest. I watched his recent documentary on knife crime and he was pretty critical about Labour’s lack of support for social services following the election, despite Starmer personally promising him it would be a priority before the election.
I guarantee the top choice will be some uber-loyalist to Starmer, not someone who has dared to mildly criticise him on television.
EDIT: Also a lot of comments in this thread are really fucking weird. We have a political class who have demonstrated for years that they are overwhelmingly inept and lack any real independence of thought. Yet apparently an actor who has been an active part in various charities and social initiatives over the past few decades is apparently *a step too far*? I’d much rather have Idris Elba than another politico whose entire ‘career’ is ‘private school, Oxbridge, party adviser, politician’.
Politicians should have careers before entering office and acting is a profession. Saying that, i don’t want to see selections being made purely on how well known the candidates are.
We have Tracy Brabin here in West Yorkshire and she seems to have done ok. Seems to be struggling a bit to push her agenda through and make meaningful change but she’s got the bikes out.
Idris Elba has been a notable campaigner for a good amount of time; I don’t think we should write him off as a serious candidate quite yet.
God no.
He thinks the best thing to reduce knife crime, after years of campaigning and research, is to dull knife tips…
This guy went from actor to MMA to DJ now to mayor?
Sadiq is many things, and being a clean spoken politician and operator is one of those things. I find it hard to believe idris is in the same league.
I don’t see the problem? Along with being an actor who’s shown interest in knife crime, he’s also been a director and a producer – he’ll have experience organising groups of people and negotiating budgets etc.
He can’t be worse than Boris ffs.
I think The Wire already showed us how he’d fair trying to fix the housing crisis….
We can go drivin’ in, on my scooter
Uh, you know, just riding in London
The **last** thing we need is more celebrity “politicians”.
The US should show us what comes of that, and frankly, also the likes of Farage and Johnson.
I’ll be honest I’m at the point where I think more ‘Normal’ people in positions of authority regularly rotated out is better than career politicians who only serve their masters.
First, he needs to sort out his real estate empire in Baltimore.
Has he actually said he’s interested or is the press / media just speculating, off the back of the anti knife campaign…??
I want Stringer Bell as mayor! If the guy is competent, I have nothing against it.
People here saying that a background in acting rather than in governance makes Elba unqualified, as if any of our current politicians are remotely competent.
This is what democracy has become in the last few decades, a popularity contest voting for who looks good rather than who can actually do the job. Might as well make elections a reality TV show with a potential leader voted off each week.
I’ll vote for him if he comes to work every day dressed in his weird naked fursuit from Cats.
London needs someone actually qualified to be a mayor…
I like the guy by there is no evidence he would be an effective mayor.
As a “White, British English” person who was born in Islington, I consider that Sadiq Khan has been the best mayor of London since Dick Whittington.
It not his fault he’s had a Tory, or now a Red Tory ,central government for his entire term in office.
Actor, dj, incredible American accent. Is there anything he can’t do?
I like Idris as an actor, but let’s please stop with the “celebrity politicians”
Someone who can act wants to work for the government? My god what a perfect fit that would be with disastrous consequences for the public as usual 🤦
>Elba—known for playing TV detective Luther and for his portrayal of Nelson Mandela in a 2016 film—is “top of the list,” a Labour insider told The Sun.
Translation: Somebody made it up to stir the pot.
I mean, come on, has he expressed an interest? Is he even eligible? Is he even a Labour MEMBER?
Reeks of internal party politicking, I’d put decent money this is the first Idris is hearing of it too.
ANYONE CAN RUN FOR PUBLIC OFFICE. THAT IS HOW THE SYSTEM IS MEANT TO WORK.
The fact that he’s an actor means absolutely fucking nothing. If his policies stink, then don’t vote for him.