Keir Starmer’s biggest challenger is difficult to define. So difficult that Andy Burnham cannot do it himself.
Makerfield’s new Member of Parliament has been labelled a political chameleon, but he will be forced to reveal his true self if he becomes Prime Minister.
This is written by Gordon Rayner and Lauren Schiffer in The Telegraph. The headline Will the real Andy Burnham please stand up? is, of course, a play on words based on rapper Eminem’s superhit Will the Real Slim Shady Please Stand Up? The article expresses precisely the disdain Eminem feels for copycats and false personalities.
“This is a last chance to change,” Burnham said in his victory speech after the election in Makerfield. He was referring to the Labour Party, but those who know him saw a delicious irony in that phrase.
Burnham is well accustomed to changing. He has already acquired a reputation for changing his mind according to the mood of the day and switching sides according to his surroundings.
His opponents claim that he has no genuine political convictions, apart from the conviction that he should be Labour leader and Prime Minister. But if this becomes a reality, which is highly likely, Burnham will find himself in an entirely new situation.
As Labour leader and Prime Minister, he cannot jump back and forth between opinions. He cannot switch sides according to the mood of the day. Nor can he place himself under a chosen superior. As the supreme leader, he will not be able to hide away.
He will have to tell the country what he believes in – and this time he will have to stick to it.
Opportunist
Burnham likes to present himself as an outsider, even though he has spent much of his career in Westminster. In practice, he has been an insider since the 1990s.
Whenever it has suited his own agenda, Burnham has aligned himself with every previous Labour leader: Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, Ed Miliband, and Jeremy Corbyn; even Keir Starmer enjoyed Burnham’s support at the beginning. Burnham adapts his opinions according to what is most expedient for achieving personal political goals. At the same time, he stood as a candidate in Labour’s leadership elections in both 2010 and 2015, but joined the winners’ teams immediately after both defeats.
He literally changes his appearance to appeal to a given audience, abandoning the Westminster uniform of designer suits in favour of football-supporter chic as Mayor of Manchester (and presumably now back again).
As Mayor of Greater Manchester, he also attempts to ingratiate himself with voters in Liverpool, where he was born. He is often seen jogging in an Everton shirt, while pretending to support Manchester’s two football clubs. He then grew up in Culcheth, which lies roughly midway between the two rival cities.
Once again: Which team is Burnham actually playing for? It is difficult to define, just as it is difficult to define the soap-like Starmer.
Perhaps Burnham does not care very much about the two northern cities at all: he goes by the nickname “King of the North”, but headed straight to London after completing his studies. Does he use Liverpool and Manchester merely as stepping stones?
When he stood for election as Labour leader in 2010, Burnham said: “We can never again allow the people’s party to be run by the London dinner-party set.” Rather cheeky, given that Burnham himself had been part of the innermost London circle for 16 years.
After losing the contest to Ed Miliband, he was appointed by the victor as Shadow Secretary of State for Education. The opponent quickly became an ally.
An eternal pursuit of greater power
In 2015, Burnham once again attempted to become Labour leader. His vote-winning platform consisted of introducing a 50 per cent top rate of tax and renationalising the railways. Many perceived this as a desperate attempt to change shape in order to win back party members attracted by the more radical offer of his opponent Jeremy Corbyn.
After ending up with 19 per cent of the vote against Corbyn’s 59 per cent, Burnham chose a new strategy: he became a Corbynista and accepted the role of Shadow Home Secretary.
As one former Labour colleague puts it: “Burnham tries to make a virtue of the fact that he has been loyal to every Labour leader he has served under, but when that includes Jeremy Corbyn, it is not something to be proud of.”
His entire career has been characterised by vacillation and political manoeuvring to advance his own career. But as party leader and Prime Minister, he will have to stand on his own feet. Then he will actually have to decide whether he is for or against EU membership (he has said both).
As Mayor of Greater Manchester, he has worked intensely to channel state funds northwards from London. As Prime Minister, he would have to take the whole nation into account.
Burnham cannot simultaneously be a northern rebel and a head of government. If he becomes Prime Minister, he will have to choose, and in the end the real Andy Burnham will be forced to reveal himself.