The Labour Party is preparing to hand the keys to Downing Street to a man whose signature achievement is a by-election win handed to him by a rival’s mistake. That is the reality of the Andy Burnham coronation now underway. And it carries real consequences for the country.
The facts are not in dispute. Burnham won the Makerfield by-election.
The margin was considerable. But the victory came with a glaring asterisk: Reform UK ran a candidate so poorly vetted that they essentially gift-wrapped the seat for Labour. It was not a triumph of Burnham’s political skill.
It was a failure of the opposition’s vetting process. On that flimsy foundation, Labour MPs are now building a myth.
They see a steady, statesmanlike figure. An experienced hand waiting in the wings. The man to rescue the nation.
The comparisons to Beatlemania are not the author’s invention — one observer has described the party’s embrace of Burnham as carrying an “almost messianic quality.” That is the language being used. It is happening. But what exactly is the record being celebrated?
Burnham first entered national politics as a young minister. He was nicknamed Bambi — yes, Bambi — for his doe-like brown eyes and soft skin.
He rose quickly. He served as Health Secretary between 2009 and 2010, a period when his department was still dealing with the consequences of the previous administration’s decisions. Nobody is asking what he achieved in that role.
Nobody is asking about his tenure as Mayor of Greater Manchester, either. The hard questions are simply not being asked.
The scrutiny is absent. Instead, Labour is treating Burnham as King Arthur rising from Silbury Hill. The anointed King in the North.
Ready to save Britain in its darkest hour. This is not satire. It is real.
It is ludicrous beyond words, but it is happening. And the stakes are not abstract.
The next prime minister will inherit a country facing profound challenges. The next prime minister will make decisions that affect millions of lives. The next prime minister will command the machinery of state.
Labour is preparing to give that power to a man whose record has gone unexamined. Burnham’s supporters point to his experience.
But experience in government is not the same as a record of achievement. Serving as Health Secretary for a year during the aftermath of a previous administration’s decisions is not the same as fixing the health service. Winning a by-election because your opponent ran a terrible candidate is not the same as building a national coalition.
The party is not asking these questions. The press is not asking these questions. The public, distracted by the spectacle of the coronation, is not asking these questions.
And so the coronation proceeds. The assumption behind Burnham as Labour’s great hope rests on a remarkable lack of examination.
Nobody is scrutinising the record. Nobody is asking the hard questions. Instead, the party is treating him as a mythic figure, ready to ride in and save the country.
This is beyond satire. It is ludicrous beyond words.
But it is happening. It is real. King Andy is going to be crowned PM.
And far too many in the Labour party really believe he is some kind of messiah. The country will have to live with the consequences of that belief.
