Andy Burnham, the man who would be king | Labour

When Andy Burnham addressed a gala dinner this week, he was as kind as gentle in a week when speculation about his future ambitions were at excessive speed. The Mayor of Manchester said, “I love this job.” “I am very happy to be where I am. I have no ambition to be the ambassador of Washington.”

It was a hood of a big laugh. Burnham did not play the game to claim that he was not trying to get into 10. But at the same time, the standard ambitious politician does not react to saying that there is no gap.

Instead, he adopted a more honest approach: If he didn’t want to work, he wouldn’t run twice to become the leader of the Labor Party. Over the years, Keir has certainly left Starmer and one day he hopes to accomplish him.

But no one thought that the problem would come soon, including Burnham. The Starmer government has gained popularity, Nigel Farage’s reform is increasing, a great commons of rebellion on prosperity has weakened the prime minister – and in two weeks, three scandalous assistant leaders and the ambassador saw the separation.

After a summer dominated by Farage, more and more deputies began to believe that their salvation was in the north. Burnham’s socialist deputies admire anti-faikalism, the centralist entry deputies who see what they are doing for growth in the Great Manchester.

A Labor Party is inside, “its policy is now in the progressive heart of the Labor Party.” He said.

Nowadays, Liverpool, Mayor of Liverpool, said that the last seven years are the production of Burnham. Orum I know him for 18 years. After I left Westminster, I saw that he started to shape politics, ”he said. “Before that, politics began to shape him.”

Neal Lawson, General Manager of Thinktank Compass, who established the new workers grouping mainstream approved by Burnham, said that the mayor is now felt comfortable in his skin and beliefs.

Burnham believes that Starmer should fail. “There is no perfect leader, but we are confronted with the right threat in the existential crisis and the fall of the Labor Party, a good leader is enough,” he said.

The Allies say that Burnham is ready to run and only expects the right opportunity.

Burnham V Machine

There are still major obstacles for an army called “Northern King ,, but there are potential openings. Burnham would need a parliamentary chair as the first step towards a potential leadership run. One has become potentially available.

Guardian understands that Andrew Gwynne, who has been dismissed from labor and is now independently sitting, has applied from the retirement fund for bad health. However, the sources said he did not continue the claim. Why uncertain. Gwynne did not respond to comments.

It is said that Burnham said to a well -established deputy earlier this year, and Gwynne had reached an agreement. However, his allies deny that he had any conversation with the deputies to resign to him. “No pact,” he insisted.

Parliamentary sources claimed that there may be other opportunities on the horizon, and at least two Manchester MPs were told that they felt discontent against the leadership. “You close one door, the other opens,” he said.

The next obstacle that Burnham faced was much larger: if he decided to return to Westminster in an election, there was no guarantee to nominate.

Burnham’s ambitions are not the only reason for a struggle against the machine. There is a deeply fragile relationship between Burnham and the Prime Minister.

Starmer was the assistant of Burnham when he was a shadow house secretary. According to Tom Baldwin’s Starmer biography, Starmer in 2020 went to Manchester to support the leadership offer. The mayor said no. He felt that he had to throw his weight behind Rebecca Long-Bailey or Lisa Nandy, one of the two local deputies.

According to friends, Starmer doesn’t like to ask for something. The relationship was not recovered, but hostility deepened by Starmer’s 2021 Working Conference while Tories struggled during the “vaccination splash”.

Burnham’s face was everywhere, he pointed to the ambitions of leadership. “It was unbearable,” he said. At that time, Burnham said that he was “less sensitive, I think it was about the attempts to start talking about the lack of vision of the party.

Now, while the Starmer’s Labor Party government was fighting against a rebellious rights, Burnham took part in front of the launch of the mainstream movement and called on a more inclusive, less -facing path of the ruling the party ”. Although it can be converted into a leadership tool, the Labor Party is designed to press the change in the form of work.

Another complication: Burnham’s choice as a candidate – if an election occurs – is in the hands of Labor’s National Executive Committee.

Starmer’s Chief of General Staff Morgan Mcsweeney was able to brutally control the elections until the elections. However, it would be a different magnitude of discussion to prevent Burnham – and Burnham’s close ally, Lucy Powell, will be a leader if he becomes his leader. However, his fate would ultimately be determined by a three -person NEC panel that could be chosen for their loyalty.

A suspicious deputy, “Of course it is possible to prevent him. By doing this, they would have a great political stroke,” he said. “After Andy Burnham made a cave to put pressure from his own inilti deputies, it would be a lot of brand to be incompetent to make it just a leadership challenge.”

Even if Burnham wins any choice, Gwynne told his friends that he was worried that the reform in the current climate would win Britain’s seat. The mayor’s friends are more rise. “Andy is a big monster and people in Greater Manchester on their own, they know that they are with them, what they think about the Labor Party.”

Left, right and center

Burnham was famous as a young political consultant and then as a minister, but Ed Miliband began to push it to the left when he became a leader. A Contemporary complained that we were too much Hampstead and that we were not enough trunks, ”he said.

Burnham, one of Miliband’s senior front banks, played an instrumental role in the next step. In 2014, during the reform of the leadership election rules, he “forced” to reduce the MP nomination threshold to 10%to be entitled to 10%from the original 20%proposal and complained that the high barrier would prevent the future running. Also, he would prevent Jeremy Corbyn from running.

In 2015, a supporter says that his second campaign for the leader was a pivot to “remember almost painful. On a big right turn, he now launched his campaign at Ernst & Young, who now accompanied Starmer’s Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ podium.

He said that a crowd of businessmen gathered, entrepreneurs will be ız We will have heroes as much as the nurse ”, to scrape the Konak Tax policy and have an early EU referendum.

It turned into a clear mistake. Perhaps it was born from the fact that parliament supporters were seen far away from the potential weakness of their supporters. Burnham -backed deputies were told to nominate Jeremy Corbyn, who was able to run to his left to throw Burnham as a centrist. It was a disaster misunderstanding of party membership.

When Corbyn won, Burnham was the only leadership candidate serving in the shadow cabinet. He remained loyal and was not one of the pre -banks that resigned to force him in 2016. Instead, he stayed away from Parliament in the same year and successfully ran to become the first mayor of Greater Manchester.

As mayor, in almost ten years, the city under Burnham has a great success story for the revolution. It is one of the few parts of the country with economic growth. He now used new transportation forces to create the bus network under the control of the authority and designed for users instead of profit.

But during Covid, it was the defense of the city, which won him to recognize him as an independent thinker and a warrior.

Burnham’s other reason was the tireless campaign for the victims of the Hillsborough disaster. According to Cynics, but when the government still resisted a complete investigation, it was discussed after a memorial service in Anfield at a memorial ceremony. Burnham himself acknowledges that this is a turning point; The cabinet brought the problem to the agenda in days. As a result, it was the first step towards the investigation that would reach the decision of illegal killing.

Back to ‘Bubble’

There are a series of high -profile deputies in Parliament, former Cabinet Minister Louise Haigh and Powell, and other friends such as Lisa Nandy and Jonathan Reynolds in the cabinet. There is a significant loyalty from the political spectrum in the Great Manchester – Liverpool and the Environmental Election Zones.

A group that has been warmed by the idea of ​​an Andy Burnham run for a long time is a group of socialist deputies called Corbynites. However, others, including new workers in the Workers’ Growth Group, are influenced by the idea of ​​a popular northernner in the rudder with a large city -ruling experience with a significant economic growth.

However, these last deputies are likely to be closed due to a close relationship with the first. Burnham will take part in a workers’ conference with several important leftist rebels, including Lewis, Nadia Whittome and Rachael Maskell next week.

A high -level source of labor, “Hardcore Welfare rebels are already behind – to build a wider coalition throughout PLP, or will not be a deputy, and will carry the number less for a challenge,” he said.

Most of his friends say that Burnham should return to Westminster, and know that Whitehall will find the boundaries deeply annoying. Um I wouldn’t do that for anything, R Rotherherm said. “I don’t think our politics of the Westminster balloon is a healthy way to make too many attention -distraction, too much lobbying, but what I’m going to say is a great advantage of our experience.

“If Andy decided to go back, he would have encouraged to change the way politics was delivered in this country. This is a big decision for him where he is now.”