When Keir Starmer welcomed Nato secretary general Mark Rutte outside No 10 on Monday, the attire was formal: dark suits and polished shoes. Nearly 200 miles north, Andy Burnham strode into the engine hall of the People’s History Museum in Manchester in his trademark dark T-shirt and jacket, joking about his thigh-skimming running shorts. The contrast between the two Labour leaders is not just sartorial.
Labour MPs identify three key distinctions: the power to communicate, the power to make an argument, and the power to give people hope. In all three, they conclude, Starmer has been lacking. Burnham’s speech was heavy on policy mechanics, but his team hopes the emotional connection with voters will register. “What hope can we have that it will be different this time?” he asked. “Westminster has not been working for people… it is broken.”
Burnham crafted an argument about what went wrong with the British political system and how he would fix it through massive devolution of power and resources. He injected optimism after criticism that Starmer focused too heavily on hard truths. “I hope people can feel the excitement that comes with the change I am setting out today,” Burnham said. “It promises a new era of possibility for Britain.”
Labour MPs know that replacing Starmer with a more “vibesy” successor gives them a final roll of the dice. A More In Common poll showed Labour moving from seven points behind Reform UK to one point ahead with Burnham as hypothetical leader. However, Burnham remains untested in political judgment and his ability to drive radical change through Whitehall. He has also avoided media scrutiny since winning the byelection.
Nevertheless, Burnham’s reputation for fighting for ordinary people is a big plus as he enters No 10. The People’s History Museum displays the navy workwear jacket he wore during a defiant speech against lockdown funding in October 2020, which burnished his credentials.
