To think Andy Burnham is doing a decent job so far?

If he can fix social care then he'll fix the corridor care and overcrowding in the acute hospitals - we've got over 200 patients waiting to be discharged to social care in ours!

No, he was in Government. He was Gordon Brown's last Health Secretary. He might have had a fighting chance of getting something done if he hadn't been so busy promising everything to anyone who'd listen or launching his own leadership campaign (between which there was a great deal of overlap).

I was in the Department of Health at the time. There are very few of us in my team then who think he's even tangentially suited to being PM.

Are you referring to the fact that Burnham did not do anything about continuing the private sector contracts, in the NHS, when he was Health Secretary? Please @InveterateWineDrinker ?

At least it’s being talked sbout! Would you rather it wasn’t?

The less men think, the more they talk. — Montesquieu

or maybe

Actions speak louder than words - anon

Well, so far he has floated some good aspirations but without any detail of how they will be achieved or funded. Too early to call.

I completely understand your wariness if it’s based on direct, personal experience of working with him.

But what I would say, is Andy Burnham has publicly acknowledged the mistakes he made as Health Secretary on social care - and spoken specifically about what a mistake it was to attempt to introduce social care reform too close to a general election, when it could be so easily weaponised by his political opponents. That’s his whole argument for getting cross party talks underway so early in the process.

2010 is a long time ago, and especially seeing as “shape-shifting” is one of the things Andy Burnham is frequently accused of, I do think there’s a good chance his process has evolved since then.

He was in the DoH for a year. Barely long enough to even make a start. And, yes, I heard some of the spiteful, nasty things that were said about him by people working in the department at the time too. I thought they should have been ashamed of themselves.

Some of them still hadn't got over the Tories being given the boot. It is a myth that Whitehall is packed to the rafters with left wingers.

Surely being in opposition was a feeble excuse! He should have solved all the country's ills.

Yep!

He’s more like an influencer / content creator than a PM. This is going to get very annoying very soon!

Of course, if the metric of measuring political success is the number of Tik Tok videos produced…
🙄
He is an unserious character when the nation needs the opposite.

And yet Starmer was too serious and didn't show enough personality for some people.

It must be so annoying for his detractors to see the cut through Burnham’s achieving with the disillusioned who have been crying out for hope for a long time. He’s very serious about getting young people into work, sorting out the mess that’s social care, re prioritising government expenditure and funding defence to make the country safe.

Indeed. Can't please everyone. And the "I hate Labour" brigade are a lost cause anyway, so their opinion is somewhat moot.
Burnham needs to concentrate on the people who are open minded and will vote for him if they like whats he's doing, and crucially, get to hear about it.

I think he is doing OK considering all the issues he has to address.

However I am disappointed again at Rayner for doing something as daft as thinking it is OK for the Truman Brewery in London to become a data centre...

But cutting through on social media is a really important skill for a modern politician.

The fact that Nigel Farage and his team have always been good at social media has massively driven their success. None of the main political parties have really had an adequate answer to it - until now.

I find it incredible to watch - in the same way history students learn how Stanley Baldwin was the first British politician to really master radio, and Howard MacMillan was the first to master TV, I genuinely think they’ll study how Andy Burnham mastered TikTok

And on a none-politics-nerd note, engaging people who previously felt disinterested and disengaged in politics and making them feel excited and inspired about the direction of their country is definitely a Prime Minister’s job - and he’s doing it well.

I agree completely with this - being warm, empathetic and good humoured is not the same as being unserious. You only need to listen to one of Andy Burnham’s speeches on Hillsborough or read Head North to realise he’s a serious politician with serious ideas.

The number of TikTok videos produced obviously isn’t a measure success in itself, but I do think the fact that so many people (myself included) are feeling engaged and even a bit hopeful about politics for the first time in a long time, is.

@Visiblyabove25 is right. I despise TikTok but it is a way to reach potential voters, especially younger ones.

I also agree with @5128gap . The we hate Labour folk are never going to like Labour or anything they do. Burnham doesn't need them to, because he can win a GE without them. He needs to win back those who voted Labour in 2024.

Eta: I am still Burnham-sceptic. But I am feeling a bit of hope too.

Visiblyabove25 the fact that Farage / Reform have effectively used social media to drive their success is an indication of how the medium can be used to convey lies, misinformation and bullshit! No-one is asking questions, scrutinising, challenging, requiring answers. It’s a perfect medium for propaganda - no matter who is using it!

This made me laugh. It is so desperate.

It’s a perfect medium for propaganda - no matter who is using it!

So are all other forms of social media. And TV. And radio. And the press. IMO one of the biggest drivers of Farage's success was the endless exposure he was given by all of the above over a considerable number of years.

While this is true, Nigel Farage isn’t able to get involved in angering like this while he is technically resigned and running for re-election. NF has never had anything interesting to say about social care and doesn’t even have a spokesperson on it I don’t think.

Op, I’m generally a fan of AB, at least as mayor.

i’m undecided on him as PM but although he has said some interesting things, he really hasn’t actually done anything yet. So we’ll have to see.

i think his weak spot is the foreign policy stuff. Which Starmer was good at.

I don't know anything about "going through the cringe", "vibes" and "platitudes" but this is a good assessment about the social media use of the PM:

Andy Burnham Went Online, and Got Into No 10 - BBC iPlayer