Laura Kuenssberg: Is Andy Burnham Labour’s saviour, or just its best bet?
He is “kind,” “warm,” and a close ally says he is “a genuinely good person, politics is a contact sport and there is no pretense.”
One MP describes him as “a good man” and adds that “sound will be the word of Manchester”. They describe his “social skill”: the ability to communicate with colleagues and the public in real life and on social media.
But there is a nagging question among many of his colleagues, and in fact it was well expressed on his Facebook page, where one member of the public wrote: “I have no doubt that I would enjoy a beer with you and talk about Joy Division and other important cultural things. So when does this become what determines whether someone becomes prime minister?”
There is unease in Labor circles about what Burnham will actually do with power. An old friend told me: “Andy has great skills, but there were questions about the extent of those skills. [his] “Thinking about some really difficult things has been properly developed.”
Another wondered: “Can he shake off the perception that he’s a bit of a lightweight?”
Not everyone believes he is ready for this job.
One senior party figure told me: “The lashes will last a day, maybe a week or so. But the scrutiny is brutal. It won’t last three months, not three years.”
Ah.
Many sources believe Burnham’s appointment of her former flatmate and fellow cabinet minister from New Labor days, James Purnell, as private secretary is a positive sign. Not just because of Purnell’s experience, but also because it inevitably leads to criticism on the left (Purnell has recently worked for major corporations and is perceived as a Blairite).
This choice was held up to me as evidence that Burnham was willing to make decisions that would upset people. This situation relieved some people in the party. A prime minister’s job is to make choices that will infuriate one group or another, and there are frankly concerns that Burnham will find this difficult.
A government source told me: “The point is he likes to be liked and he likes to be liked. He has to be prepared to be unpopular – and he will have to face compromises – mayors do not face compromises.”
“He’s quite emotional, he has feelings,” says one of his former colleagues. They question “how do you balance that with the need for tough skin, the need to see things through and take very open positions?”
But in politics you don’t spend more than twenty years worrying only about pleasing people. Burnham was happily pestering the Labor leadership on a regular basis when Keir Starmer was in office.
An ally who worked closely with him in government in the late 2000s said his talent wasn’t just being nice: “He never takes no for an answer.”
They recall clashes between the government and “hostile permanent secretaries” towards the end of Labor’s time in power and say they were “saving money for the next Tory government”.
“He went to war with them and won,” Burnham’s ally recalls. “It was surprising”.
Some of the doubt stems from a perceived lack of clarity about what Burnham wants to do beyond breaking into No 10. Really he wants to do this.
This will be third time lucky after unsuccessfully running for leadership in 2010 and 2015. We are used to hearing his rhetoric about change, about making the country more equal, about taking care of communities that have been left behind, like his new constituency of Makerfield. “Vote for Andy – For Us” continues the slogan.
But when it comes to details, it can seem a bit blurry.
So there’s a hot political frenzy over who will be chancellor. All the talk in Westminster is about whether she will choose Ed Miliband on the soft left, Wes Streeting on the Labor right or Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood. Whomever she ends up choosing (and perhaps it will be someone else, like Welfare Minister Pat McFadden, who is less keen to see herself in a political story), this argument has become representative of Burnham’s general sense of direction.
