AIBU to wonder why Burnham attracts so much negativity?

[Conicallychronic]

Why is there so much negativity towards politicians and Burnham in particular? Burnham hasn’t really done anything yet but so many on here appear to hate him.

I agree that politics has been a shambles recently but what’s the alternative?

Personally I feel a degree of optimism that we may have a PM that actually turns things around for us.

It's this for me. I feel he behaved in a shabby way by leaving Manchester like that.
The idea that anyone could be parachuted in as PM could set a precedent. I think I'd prefer if you had to be a current MP for a year before you could be PM.

And the thought that no current MP of the huge majority was deemed fit for the job concerns me a bit.

They should have let Keir finish what he started, then have someone else (AB if he was an MP) lead into the next election.

That said, I support AB to hopefully keep Reform, etc. out.

Yes this is it for many people I think.
Clearly we don’t know yet what sort of PM he will be. The thing is how can we say we don’t like him ? I haven’t even heard him be properly interviewed yet , and unless you know him personally, it’s only what the party want you to know/ see.

I deeply dislike his coup and power hungry ways. We needed stability and continuity.
I would call myself centrist too.

There was nobody up to the task. Quite shocking.

I think many would be fit for the real.job. However, its not doing the job per se thats the problem - Kier was doing that! Its having the character as well to handle the modern style of leadership against a background of AI, bots influence and far right rising.

There arent many MPs in any party like that.

I also support AB to provide what this country really needs.

It's because 3 weeks ago I never heard of him and now he's in no.10. It seems unorthodox to me.

Because he fancies himself so much

Because that's not my Prime Minister. He didn't get there by means of a General Election.

There isn't that much negativity towards Burnham apart from those who hate Labour so much they actually want him to fail. He has an exceptionally high approval rating for a new PM, and had already seen working class support drift from Reform by 3.6 perventage points.
You need to remember that the people who are criticising him on SM are those highly motivated to portray him poorly. They are mainly ardent Conservatives or Reform voters who would prefer to see the country fail under Burnham to give their own party a chance than back him to succeed.
In the absence of evidence he is failing, given its day 2, they fall back on attacking his character, his clothes, accent, his wife's appearance, and their doom mongering predictions of what he'll do wrong.
There are also some within Labour who are unhappy Starmer has been replaced.

The problem is that everything is now in such a shambles there is no room for a new person to try their hit and hope ideas out

It is because a large number of the population are more right wing than Andy Burnham so they will be negative about him and a large number of people are more left wing than Andy Burnham so they will be negative about him. There are also the people who supported Keir Starmer who will be negative about him. Then there are people who really don't want a labour government next time and felt that Starmer was guaranteed to lose the election for Labour and they just had to wait it out for another two years. It is harder to predict how Burnham will perform in an election.

It is how politics works. Not every one feels the same way.

I didn't mean to suggest no one as fit for it. I more meant that the Labour MPs themselves clearly felt that no current MP could do it - or they could have picked one.

I just glad it's not Wes Streeting. Though I wish he had stood against Burnham, failed miserably and then AB would not have had to "reward" him with a cabinet post.

Well I don’t agree with a single thing he’s announced so far and he’s thrown a grenade into the civil service. Cant see what there is to feel hopeful about so far.

I think most of the cabinet posts are just that - rewards. There have been briefings against Starmer from within the cabinet as on the BBC, today. Haigh, Midgley, and others, have been working for over a year to secure Burnham as PM. Some of these supporters had to stand down from posts due to their own misdemeanours but thought they should be reinstated. This is also based on popularity ratings but how could people know what a mayor would be like compared to a PM?

Tbf you can't take much interest in politics if you've never heard of AB.

He was previously shadow Health Secretary, Shadow Home Secretary and Shadow Secretary of State for Education. He's also a massive self publicist.

Would you have heard of any of the other possibles?

The other thing is Burnham does already seem to be making a lot of un-costed promises or hints that he will do something. So far I've read about a rise in the personal allowance, a rise in foreign aid, significantly ramping up council tax spending, ending rough sleeping, lowering the bus cap, lower energy prices.

He's also said he's going to stick to the 2024 manifesto and the current fiscal rules. It'll be interesting to see where the funding for all of this is going to come from. I think it makes sense to remain sceptical of this man until we have a few more details.

I think Wes Streeting is the fall guy in all this. I think he was deliberately set up to instigate the leadership challenge meaning that Burnham had "no choice" but to abandon Manchester and come to the rescue of the party and the country.

No one, not even Wes, ever expected that he would be leader. In that context he deserves rewarding with the cabinet post, otherwise sacrificed his career.

No, that's not how being considered the best works. The fact that Messi is the best footballer in the world doesnt mean Bellingham isn't fit to kick a ball. And just because Burnham was considered the best Labour Party member to be its leader, doesn't mean no one else was up to the job.

Yes, and referring to the new Chancellor and what he said when he resigned from Defence:

Now that he oversees the public purse, investors are hoping the UK will commit to increasing defence spending to 3% of GDP by 2030.

I think it is going to be important to scrutinise and cost all these promises, as you have outlined above.

He'll be back at some point.

Good politicians are just too difficult to find.

Burnham will want to cement his powerbase before bringing him back. He has enough to do without having to deal with dissent from his own cabinet.

Because he is very left wing. He has absolutely no mandate from the electorate for his policies. It simply isn't democratic.

He is back. Secretary of State for Defense. Reward for setting up the situation that got Burnham in post, exactly as they planned, I'd imagine.

Usually though, people find leaders among their current MPs.
I just find it disappointing that they couldn't.

I'm aware of that. But he isn't seriously suggesting going back to the heyday of Thatcherism, is he? I mean, ok if he is, but I think he is meaning to reference the pre Thatcher days. Teach him some Maths, not me.

Burnham and Healey are keen on reindustrialisation, regeneration and devolution. That also will all cost money. As far as I know, we still have the same money. No one has planted money orchards.