Andy Burnham has built his career as the politician who turns up.
Whenever there has been an injustice or cover up – Hillsborough, contaminated blood, the veterans of Britain’s nuclear tests – he has always been the one who is there: at the memorial, at the police station with a dossier of evidence, saying what the state would prefer no-one ever said out loud.
He has also backed Waspi (Women Against State Pension Inequality) women – those caught by the sudden rise in the state pension age who say it threw their plans into disarray, causing financial hardship.
Now, having finally won a Commons seat – and with Keir Starmer badly weakened – Burnham stands closer to Downing Street than ever. Both his admirers and his critics are asking the same thing: with his instinct to back the David in Goliath battles, what kind of prime minister would he be?
Shorts
