Burnham to say his government will be ‘unashamedly Labour’ in first speech as party leader – UK politics live | Politics
Burnham will say her government will be ‘unashamedly Labour’ in her first speech as party leader
Good morning. Today Labor will officially announce at a “special conference”: Andy Burnham is its new leader. We’ll get a speech from Burnham at that event, followed by another speech at an event in the afternoon.
Like Kiran Stacey And Rowena Mason According to the report, Burnham will say in her private speech at the conference that she will lead a government with “the courage to fix the big things that politics has neglected” and “the conviction to defend our plans”.
According to the briefing held overnight, burnham He will also promise that the party he leads will “be unashamedly Labor in our priorities and the decisions we make, putting people and places at the heart of everything we do.”
But Burnham will not actually start forming her government until Monday, when she will be appointed prime minister, take over at No 10 and begin appointing her government.
Burnham’s communication via social media has been excellent in recent weeks, and we saw another example last night when she shared this: his video An “Ask Andy Anything” event is being held in Cardiff, where he sits on a chair in the main pedestrian shopping street and talks to people passing by. “Ask Andy anything” isn’t an invitation he’s extended to journalists like Nick Robinson or Beth Rigby recently (he’s received little media coverage as he plans to launch a government), and if someone had asked him who he would appoint as chancellor, his answer wasn’t reflected in the final video.
But when he asked about social care there was a tantalizing hint at one of his priorities. Burnham said his father had Alzheimer’s and was therefore very familiar with the problems in the social care system. “If there’s an area where I’m going to spend a lot of social capital [on]“It will be about social care,” he said.
Here are the important times of the day.
Afternoon: Labor held a special conference to declare Burnham leader. Labor deputy leader Lucy Powell, national executive committee chair Shabana Mahmood (who is also the home secretary and a possible next chancellor) and outgoing general secretary Hollie Ridley will also speak, as will Burnham.
14.30: Burnham will give a speech in the south-east of England.
If you would like to contact me, please send a message below the line or send a message on social media during comments open hours (between 10:00 – 15:00). I can’t read all messages BTL, but if you type “Andrew” in a message addressed to me, I’m more likely to see it because I’m looking for posts containing that word.
If you want to flag something urgently, it’s best to use social media. You can reach me on Bluesky at @andrewsparrowgdn.bsky.social. The Guardian has stopped posting from their official account on
I find it very helpful for readers to point out errors, even minor typos. No mistake is too small to be corrected. I also find your questions very interesting. I can’t promise to respond to them all, but I will try to respond as much as I can, either on BTL or sometimes on the blog.
important events
The news appeared in the Times this morning a story He claims Andy Burnham is facing “a rebellion from his core support in the Labor Party left over from his plans to appoint Shabana Mahmood”.
The only MP recorded in the story criticizing Mahmood: Rachael MaskellA well-known leftist who is comfortable speaking out against the leadership. He told the newspaper that Ed Miliband would be a better chancellor because he “has Treasury experience and can bring our party together on some very difficult issues”. He criticized Mahmood’s record on immigration and said Mahmood “does not have the level of skills and experience to provide the leadership needed at the Treasury”.
While there aren’t many lawmakers who speak out as publicly as Maskell, that doesn’t mean there aren’t those who agree privately. The Times story quotes two of them speaking anonymously. He says:
A senior Burnham ally said: “Shabana has no knowledge of economics. It’s not something she’s ever talked about. She’s uncooperative. It’s not clear how she’s going to use the machinery.”
Another Labor MP said: “This surprises a lot of people because no one knows his views on the economy. Does he even have any views? He’s never made a speech or intervened. It’s absolutely bizarre and I can’t see him as a sensible appointment.”
“Ed would have been a much more experienced chancellor because his real background was in finance. He was at the heart of Gordon Brown’s team. That doesn’t bode well for a fundamental rethinking of how we actually do government.”
A note to readers
I’m afraid I have some bad news; Starting at the end of next week, we will no longer be opening comments on the Politics Live blog.
This decision was not taken lightly. Politics Live has been running since 2010 and your comments have been part of what has made it a success. Personally, I have always found them useful both as a source of information and as a challenge and criticism that makes our journalism better.
But having comments open on a blog like Politics Live, which regularly receives more than 4,000 comments a day, is extremely resource-intensive. Comments need to be moderated, and as the Guardian’s online content has expanded over the last 16 years, there are increasingly places where moderators are needed elsewhere on our website. We’ve gotten to the point where we can no longer keep comments open here and do all the viewer interaction we want to do across the site as a whole.
It’s important to emphasize that turning off comments doesn’t mean we don’t want to hear from you. If there is such a thing, it is the exact opposite. Moderators have recently been focusing more on Conversations, our new Q&A series where Guardian journalists answer reader questions. These make for really good, informative engagements and we’ll be doing more of them. If you haven’t interacted with them yet, you should; they are perfect.
I made one myself earlier this year and will be doing them regularly on the blog every few weeks, with comments closed.
I would also like to continue hearing from you every day and we are setting up a new email address for the blog to allow this to happen. I will give the details on Monday, July 27, when we will start the regime without comment. I want you to use this to ask your questions for me to answer on the blog or privately. I’ll be keeping a close eye on it, as will the other reporters who write the blog while I’m away.
I know this will come as a shock to many regular readers and contributors to BTL comments. I know you’ll miss your regular workout, and I’m sorry about that. But the relationship did not end; It’s just changing and hopefully an upgrade will be achieved.
Zack Polanski says progressives are worried Burnham will look like ‘Keir Starmer with a different face’
Zack PolanskiHe was relatively positive about the prospect of Green Party leader Andy Burnham becoming Labor leader. He has sounded less enthusiastic recently, especially after reports that Burnham would appoint home affairs minister Shabana Mahmood as chancellor.
In an interview on Sky News This morning Polanski said he was worried Burnham might end up with a “different face” like Keir Starmer.
He said:
Let’s see what happens [Burnham] He’s doing it as prime minister. And if he introduces a wealth tax and builds social housing, I will be the first to applaud.
[But] I think people on the left or who want to see progressive politics look at Andy Burnham and he looks a lot like Keir Starmer with a different face.
Polanski also argued that if people want progressive politics, they can get the “full version” from his party.
I guess we’ll still see [under Burnham] It is a party where inequality has deepened even further, where we have seen Labor apologize for its past in Gaza, but it still does not signal that it will stop selling weapons to Israel.
I think we will hear again and again discourses that are more in line with what the Green Party says. But why half-ass it when you can come into the Green party and have the full version where we actually both say and do things?
Burnham will say her government will be ‘unashamedly Labour’ in her first speech as party leader
Good morning. Today Labor will officially announce at a “special conference”: Andy Burnham is its new leader. We’ll get a speech from Burnham at that event, followed by another speech at an event in the afternoon.
Like Kiran Stacey And Rowena Mason According to the report, Burnham will say in her private speech at the conference that she will lead a government with “the courage to fix the big things that politics has neglected” and “the conviction to defend our plans”.
According to the briefing held overnight, burnham He will also promise that the party he leads will “be unashamedly Labor in our priorities and the decisions we make, putting people and places at the heart of everything we do.”
But Burnham will not actually start forming her government until Monday, when she will be appointed prime minister, take over at No 10 and begin appointing her government.
Burnham’s communication via social media has been excellent in recent weeks, and we saw another example last night when she shared this: his video An “Ask Andy Anything” event is being held in Cardiff, where he sits on a chair in the main pedestrian shopping street and talks to people passing by. “Ask Andy anything” isn’t an invitation he’s extended to journalists like Nick Robinson or Beth Rigby recently (he’s received little media coverage as he plans to launch a government), and if someone had asked him who he would appoint as chancellor, his answer wasn’t reflected in the final video.
But when he asked about social care there was a tantalizing hint at one of his priorities. Burnham said his father had Alzheimer’s and was therefore very familiar with the problems in the social care system. “If there’s an area where I’m going to spend a lot of social capital [on]“It will be about social care,” he said.
Here are the important times of the day.
Afternoon: Labor held a special conference to declare Burnham leader. Labor deputy leader Lucy Powell, national executive committee chair Shabana Mahmood (who is also the home secretary and a possible next chancellor) and outgoing general secretary Hollie Ridley will also speak, as will Burnham.
14.30: Burnham will give a speech in the south-east of England.
If you would like to contact me, please send a message below the line or send a message on social media during comments open hours (between 10:00 – 15:00). I can’t read all messages BTL, but if you type “Andrew” in a message addressed to me, I’m more likely to see it because I’m looking for posts containing that word.
If you want to flag something urgently, it’s best to use social media. You can reach me on Bluesky at @andrewsparrowgdn.bsky.social. The Guardian has stopped posting from their official account on
I find it very helpful for readers to point out errors, even minor typos. No mistake is too small to be corrected. I also find your questions very interesting. I can’t promise to respond to them all, but I will try to respond as much as I can, either on BTL or sometimes on the blog.
