Andy Burnham…

[CurlewKate]

What specifically is it that makes people think he would be a good leader of the Labour Party or Prime Minister? Actual practical reasons. I’m not saying he wouldn’t be-and I like the fact that he’s on the Left and he has an appealing way with him. But apart from that, what would he bring to the job? Not being Kier Starmer doesn’t count!

He's an opportunistic chancer who has made a career out of telling people exactly what they wanted to hear without ever having to actually deliver it. On top of that, some people find him charismatic, or pretty, or both.

He's the Boris Johnson of the Labour Party and, like BoJo, the ultimate triumph of guff over substance.

Yep! Even though he is the mayor of Manchester, I am in Liverpool and he is highly regarded here

I’m another one who admires him for what he did for the Hillsborough families. Anyone not familiar with it basically he was giving a speech in front of 28,000 people and got interrupted by a mass chant, then cheered, booed and applauded all in the space of minutes. He then went back to the PM and said look it’s twenty years on but people still feel as passionately about getting justice, and he delivered what he’d promised. I think, for a politician, he’s genuine.

The government isn’t all bad. I tried to find a list of what has been achieved so far and got these:

I think they could have done more, but I’d still rather they were in power than out.
https://whathaskeirdone.co.uk/results#:~:text=Introduced%20a%20new%20Fiscal%20Lock,contract%20with%20those%20who%20serve.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/dec/22/labour-2025-apprenticeships-workers-wages-price-rises-children?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Agree completely

For a politician, he's as full of shit as the rest of them. He was Culture Secretary for the 20th anniversary of Hillsborough in 2009 - when he was jeered - and his total contribution to the Hillsborough Independent Panel was to ask Gordon Brown to investigate setting it up, which Jacqui Smith and Alan Johnson actually did. "Justice" was then delivered by the independent Panel, not by St Andy of Burnham or any other politician.

Andy Burnham found it convenient to associate himself with it - way beyond his actual effort - because he's a career opportunist and was already planning his leadership move for after the 2010 election. He was just the same when he promised all sorts of crap to the NHS after he became Health Secretary even though they weren't manifesto promises and in many cases were not even legal. Many NHS workers are Labour members and most are unionised, which has big voting rights.

A big problem is lack of effective communication on things achieved. And that the largely Tory press ignore it.

Very true.

I will read Streeting's book since it left you with a favourable impression of him. It's not often that a politician manages that-- although BoJo employed some decent ghost writers.At least, unlike Boris, Streeting's extremely unlikely to prove a feckless womaniser with a dozen kids by different babymommas springing up left right and centre.:)

I agree with this. Why when Labour were in power in 97 onwards were the media supportive then but not now?

Johnson is loathsome.,He’s self serving corrupt and incompetent. I have no idea how he made it as any kind of a serious political figure. Let alone PM, FFS.
If he handed been trapped into the role by the pandemic, he wouldn’t have lasted half that time.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15506329/Byelection-poll-Reform-ahead-Labour-victory-Andy-Burnham.html

Some interesting polling - the details are fascinating. They actually asked how people would vote if Burnham stood. It differs massively from the headline numbers. Burnham would almost certainly have won.

He could have secured 49 per cent backing from voters, while Reform would drop to 28 per cent.

@MangaKangai hope you enjoy it. “One boy, two Bills and a fry up”. I actually listened to it on audible and it was read by him. I don’t know if I’d like him as PM, when I think of him dealing with Trump and Xi I’m not sure. But I don’t know how you know that until they are in post. I do think he’s a lot more driven than Starmer. I think your idea of someone suddenly coming up from nowhere is a good one!

@RedToothBrushthe problem is that if Burnham became MP they would then probably have lost the mayoralty for Greater Manchester which is far more significant. It does make Starmer weak refusing to bend the rules, but they are NEC rules not his. He wasn’t going to become an MP to sit on the sidelines. If he had allowed it I think he should have appointed him as a minister under Shabana Mahmood specifically to deal with immigration and asylum to tie his success/failure to the government and to make him part of the collective responsibility. It could have worked. But losing Manchester would have been a major blow. Burnham knew the rules.

People in Manchester aren’t as stupid as you make them out to be. They don’t vote for someone because they come from Manchester. They voted for him because they see him advocating for their city, that he has made positive changes to the public transport network and is working to improve homelessness. They like the way he stood up to Johnson. My son did a presentation for him when he was working for a company in Manchester which employed young people and was impressed-said he talked to him and really listened.