Burnham’s schtick is that he is going to re-discover Labour’s true faith
When I was covering Barack Obama’s battle with Hillary Clinton for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination, there came a moment when only she among sentient adults seemed unwilling to acknowledge that Obama had beaten her. We would traipse to Clinton rallies to be greeted, without fail, by the strains of my favourite Tom Petty song, ‘I Won’t Back Down’. (‘You can stand me up at the gates of Hell/ But I won’t back down/ No, I’ll stand my ground/ Won’t be turned around/ And I’ll keep this world from draggin’ me down/ Gonna stand my ground…’) It was delegate votes, rather than anyone draggin’ Clinton down, which cost her, of course, but for years afterwards I couldn’t hear Petty’s gravelly voice without seeing Hillary’s pasty, pantsuited visage.
And now another politician comes along to ruin one of my favourite songs. The next time I play New Order’s ‘True Faith’, I will try to recall a sweaty sixth-form disco and the sense of possibility. However, I fear what will pop into my head is the smiley features of Andy Burnham, our next prime minister, gently bopping like a twinkly uncle at his niece’s wedding, anticipating the attentions of every divorcée in the room when he goes to the bar.
