There were two speeches today - and they were very different. This morning, Sir Keir Starmer spoke from outside Downing Street as Prime Minister for the last time. He thanked his family, friends and colleagues for supporting him during his tumultuous two-year tenure and even had some warm wishes for the man about to replace him.
Like many of Starmer's speeches, there was nothing inherently wrong with it, but no one can argue that he is a natural communicator or a soaring orator. Those who have met Sir Keir in person know he is far more effective at delivering his message in private than in public.
Burnham's Communicative Edge
What we saw around an hour later from Andy Burnham showed one element of why Labour MPs have thrown their support behind him with such vigour and why they believe he can change their fortunes. Politics must be about a heck of a lot more than just communication, but being able to connect with people in an authentic way has always been important and feels increasingly vital in an era of rolling news and social media obsessions.
Burnham showed in his remarks as he arrived in Downing Street that he is already comfortably ahead of his predecessor in terms of the skill set he brings in this department. Speaking without notes and without the formality of the lectern, he cut a more comfortable figure than the man he is replacing. He spoke with passion and clarity in words that people can understand. This is his great skill as a politician: setting out a clear vision for the future in a language that people can digest, even if they do not take notice of the day-to-day minutiae of policy.
The Easy Part Is Over
But in many ways, today's speech was the easy part for the new man in Number 10. He has made these arguments before; he has set out his vision already. Yes, he will have been nervous about the gravity of the situation and the history that weighed on his shoulders, but nailing the speech is just the start. Because he is right: people are fed up with politics. They are fed up with a prime ministerial merry-go-round that is a symptom of a failing democratic model that has lost the ability to improve people's lives.
He will never be as popular or as powerful as the moment he delivered that speech. By the end of today, as his cabinet choices become clear, he will have lost support in some spaces, and this will continue as he makes the sort of trade-offs that are inevitable in the position he now holds. This is why he must deliver on his promise to be radical and to deliver changes, and he must do it immediately.
Ambitious Pledges Require Action
Promising to end rough sleeping across the country is an enormously ambitious pledge. Those in Greater Manchester who saw him say something very similar when he became mayor there may have their doubts, but like with his other plans, the action must match the rhetoric. Andy Burnham is a very different politician and person to the Blair/Brown-era cabinet minister who was often accused of 'flip flopping' and changing his positions. Nearly a decade as a regional mayor has certainly cemented his central political philosophy.
But as many have said before, articulating that philosophy and delivering the changes required are very different things, especially when you will be hit with a million different priorities from global conflicts to party infighting from day one. That is why he must remain clear-eyed and focused on his big idea at all times. He says he wants to rewire the country and fundamentally change the way politics works, so that it better supports people in places like those that made him who he is.
Breaking Up the Whitehall Machine
It all sounds good, and for those who have been calling for a redistribution of power for a long time, it is very encouraging to hear. But breaking up the Whitehall machine will not come easily, and there will be plenty who try to stand in his way. For the good of the country and all those who believe this place can be better, he simply must deliver - and quickly.
