Tim Shipman
We are approaching the end of Andy Burnham’s first week in power. There are as many questions as answers about where he will ultimately plant his flag on the big macro-economic stuff and on policies which make for difficult politics. But his Downing Street team will be pretty happy with how things have gone for the first few days.
Burnham understands that a large part of the premiership is about communicating and that policy can be a form of communication – something Keir Starmer, Rishi Sunak and Theresa May, of our recent premiers, either denied or deplored
I doubt many ordinary folk will quite grasp why he has proclaimed the opening of No. 10 North today the happiest day of his life, but it is a statement which will be noticed and draw attention to something which is usually only of interest to political hacks and the even more geeky people at the Institute for Government.
Burnham understands that a large part of the premiership is about communicating and that policy can be a form of communication – something that Keir Starmer, Rishi Sunak and Theresa May, of our recent premiers, either denied or deplored. Small interventions on the cost of domestic energy, bus prices and a tax break for pubs will not change the world but they can change voters’ views of Labour now that it is under new management.
