Andy Burnham told the Labour faithful he would “bring back hope.” A columnist in The Independent was not moved by how he said it.
“Not only was the content woolly, but Burnham is no barnstormer,” the column says, placing Tony Blair well ahead on that score. Burnham is supposed to have studied English, the writer adds, “but you wouldn’t know it.” Henry V he is not.
Hope for whom
The column argues the hope in question is as much about Labour MPs keeping their jobs as it is about cutting large-scale youth unemployment. Fed up with Keir Starmer, and dazzled by the size of Burnham’s new, more local majority at Makerfield, many of them believe he could “do a Makerfield” for them in their own constituencies. They hail him, in the writer’s words, in “almost messianic terms.”
The writer is not letting the history go. Burnham had pushed for a while to get back into the Commons, the column recalls. He turned up at the annual conference seeking acclamation, got none and was sent packing, humiliated.
What he promised
Two pledges stood out. One was an end to factionalism, a single, unified Labour “for one and all.” The column says it will be interesting to see whether that holds when his cabinet is announced on Monday and his choice of chancellor is revealed.
The other was a pitch beyond Manchester. Burnham appeared conscious of having over-egged his Mancunian identity, the writer says, and reached for the North East, Pennine towns, coastal areas and rural communities, which he described as blighted by “four decades of neoliberalism.” That was a swipe at Margaret Thatcher too. The column suggests he is learning that being prime minister is very different from being mayor, and that most people do not live in Greater Manchester.
He also made overtures to business. Saying you do not want to be in hock to the bond markets is one thing out of power, the columnist writes, and another when they are watching your every move.
The Tuchel comparison
The writer sums up Burnham as a man promising a lot and going at it aggressively, with an attacking style his predecessor never used. The comparison offered is Thomas Tuchel, who did similar when he became England manager and criticised the cautious, hesitant approach he inherited from Gareth Southgate. The team delivered, fleetingly, the column says, then retreated in the face of unrelenting opposition.
“For Southgate, read Starmer,” it says. Whether Burnham is “the suddenly out-of-favour England manager in disguise,” the writer concludes, “We shall see.”
Sources
Sources
- Andy Burnham is not the messiah | The Spectator
- 'Keir's tears… Andy's crown' and 'Messiah without a mandate' – BBC
