Voters in Makerfield haven’t even gone to the polling stations, but already the Labour leadership contest is well into a detailed exposition of what Andy Burnham – rather than any of the other contenders – might do.
A few ‘star’ new MPs had been promoted straight into government, but the rest hadn’t had an invite to Downing Street
Defence spending, welfare cuts, social care, immigration and the EU are all matters Burnham has pronounced on – and then changed his stance. The problem with WWAD (What Would Andy Do?), as the bracelets for Labour’s messiah might read, is that the answer really depends on the weather. Like Keir Starmer, Burnham has a habit of saying things that are right for the political climate at the time, rather than settling on policies that he’s prepared to see through to the end, regardless of how difficult it will be to do this.
Starmer quickly gained a reputation for saying whatever would get him what he wanted at the time, before junking it in the name of expediency. His own leadership campaign pledges became notorious, largely because so many of them disappeared after he was elected. Burnham could probably still be forgiven by Labour MPs for that kind of behaviour, though, if he managed to avoid the next pitfalls that really damaged Starmer’s authority.
