See more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred SourceBy ANDREW PIERCE, DAILY MAIL CONSULTANT EDITOR AND COLUMNIST Published: 23:00 BST, 5 July 2026 | Updated: 01:08 BST, 6 July 2026
Is there a resentful republican lurking beneath Andy Burnham's trademark blue T-shirt?Next month the predicted new Labour leader will make the traditional Prime Ministerial pilgrimage to Balmoral.In his 2024 memoir Head North, the Liverpool-born Burnham recalls the 1989 all-Merseyside FA Cup final with approval, describing the crowd's chorus of 'Merseyside, Merseyside' as 'an unforgettable act of defiance towards an Establishment, represented by those in the Royal Box, which had viciously turned against the people of one of England's biggest cities'.The Royal presenting the silverware that day? The late and charming Duchess of Kent.There's also the matter of Sunday morning worship with the King and Queen. Balmoral's Crathie Kirk is an austere Protestant church. Burnham is a lapsed Roman Catholic. King Charles walks with Andy Burnham, then the Mayor of Greater Manchester, at a reuse centre in Trafford Park earlier this yearAndy Burnham's search for a northern Downing Street may prove remarkably straightforward. When you walk out of Manchester Piccadilly railway station, a few streets down on the left is… Downing Street. During England's World Cup clash with DR Congo, Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper was hosting the Foreign Office summer reception – attended, awkwardly, by the Congolese ambassador. 'There was an inquest into why we'd scheduled it on the night England were playing DR Congo,' she admitted, before adding: 'The arrangements were made by a Scot.''It's crazy. It's absolutely bonkers. If I'm still doing this job at the end of May next year, I'll be the longest-serving prisons minister in 25 years,' says Lord Timpson, appointed in July 2024. Speaking on the Lord Speaker's Corner podcast, he added: 'I want to keep going as long as I'm needed. Like Nanny McPhee said: 'When you need me but do not want me, I must stay. When you want me but no longer need me, I have to go.' ' Ministers usually quote Churchill. A new Balls gameEd Balls recalled an MPs' charity football match at QPR on the Political Currency podcast, in which his side won a last-minute penalty. 'I was captain,' he said. I thought to myself, 'Who wants to score most on this team?' So I just gave the ball to Andy and he put the penalty away.'Is he hoping Burnham pays him back with a Cabinet position?The Duke of Wellington, 80, endured an unfortunate moment in the Lords. Attempting to read a message on his phone during a debate, the Duke found himself defeated by technology. Perhaps his butler was off duty.Since returning to Westminster as MP for Makerfield, Andy Burnham has yet to utter a word in a Commons debate. If Eyelashes Andy doesn't get a move on, he may end up making his maiden speech from the despatch box as Prime Minister.Keeping it in the familyWestminster is alive with rumours of family reunions.There's talk of David Miliband returning from the US to join his once-estranged brother Ed in Burnham's Cabinet as Foreign Secretary. Meanwhile, young Foreign Office minister Hamish Falconer has ambitions of becoming Lord Chancellor – the office once held by his father, Lord (Charlie) Falconer – who is himself reportedly interested in returning as Attorney General.Sighed one former Labour minister: 'I'm sure Andy Burnham's in favour of happy families, but this is ridiculous.'
