Andy Burnham was greeted with whoops and cheers from supporters and heckles of “He’s not the messiah” and “Rome is saved!” as he was sworn in as an MP on Monday – just hours after Sir Keir Starmer delivered his resignation speech outside Downing Street. The former Greater Manchester mayor is now the only declared candidate for the Labour leadership, but a former senior Whitehall official has warned he risks repeating his predecessor’s biggest mistake: entering Downing Street without the urgency, preparation or clear plan needed to govern.
Helen MacNamara, the former deputy cabinet secretary, told The Independent’s political podcast In The Room that Burnham’s team needed to demonstrate the “urgency and ruthlessness” required to make the transition into government. “The pace is miles off,” she said. “When you’re working right at the heart of power, you haven't got time to be wondering and thinking. Where is the pace, and the urgency, and the ruthlessness about the planning and delivery? That's the thing that bothers me.”
“Helen MacNamara warns Andy Burnham lacks urgency and clear plan, risking a repeat of Starmer's failure.”
MacNamara’s co-host, former No 10 special adviser Cleo Watson, raised similar concerns. She cited reports that former transport secretary Louise Haigh had been asking MPs which jobs they would like in a Burnham-led government – “basically, the opposite of what you should be doing,” MacNamara said. Watson described informal conversations in which MPs put forward their own ideas, with the response from Burnham’s team characterised as: “Yeah, cool, man. That sounds good. Note that down, somebody.” Watson added: “I just think: oh, no. Are we about to sleepwalk or sleeprun into a similar situation that we've just had?”
Burnham’s path to power was smoothed by his choice of constituency. Makerfield voted Leave by two to one in the 2016 referendum, forcing the self-described Remainer to abandon his previous calls for a conversation about rejoining the EU. “I believe in unions of all kinds,” he had said as mayor, but early in the by-election he made “the wise decision not to ‘re-run’ the old arguments”. It was enough to win him the seat with 24,927 votes – and now he is on track to be Prime Minister. The March for Rejoin on 20 June drew a low-powered line-up including Neil Kinnock but not Burnham.
As the King of the North prepares to take charge of the whole country, the warnings from those who have seen transitions before hang in the air. MacNamara said those around Burnham were likely feeling “a mix of euphoria” – but she insisted the planning must match the moment. “I don't know whether this is just how our political class is now, or whether it's a Labour Party problem, but they feel extremely intellectually incurious about the business of governing,” she said.