Andy’s Mission

Andy Burnham has won the Makerfield by-election by a street and now clear to challenge Keir Starmer as Prime Minister he must act swiftly and boldly on his words in his post-count speech to deliver the huge, urgent changes the UK needs to meet the future.

Whatever the processes, that means replacing Starmer asap and starting to inject hope and purpose to the Labour Government after its depressing time since the General Election. Starmer is a good, decent man, has good intentions and has begun to turn some things around. But he has proved an abject leader, one the country has lost any faith in, if they had even it in the first place.

By winning his Westminster seat, Burnham has shown he can beat Reform and has a Labour momentum behind him. He needs to take that on now with relish, replace Starmer and start to fundamentally change our politics. Labour has lost two precious years by not doing so when it took office - bits of good policy have emerged but nothing like the radical changes that were needed after years of Tory waste, lies and misrule. This is what has given Nigel Farage and Reform the leverage to make political in-roads feasting on the large scale racism and lack of hope fermenting across the UK.

Starmer lost control ages ago - not merely on his lack of leadership but simply in his (utter lack of) communications skills. No matter how good a policy maker you may be, these days if you don’t have the sheer ability to communicate effectively, get the basic messages across, you are dead meat. Starmer is that now and however he fights he cannot get any mojo back. Burnham has it.

Clement Atlee was perhaps the best PM this country has ever had. An extremely low-profile, quiet operator, he forged real change and dynamism in the aftermath WW2 - housing, the NHS, welfare. But, even he, the political Titan he was, wouldn’t stand a chance in the 24-hour news cycle and social media chaos that is the reality today.

Farage, for all his racist and far-right lies and bluster, is a natural communicator - his key talent in making him a force today. Brexit and all the other horrors he has brought about in our politics before and after 2016 stem from his ability to say things effectively. If Farage was Labour, the Government would not be in half the mess it is now in the public’s eyes.

But, a Government that wants to make the country less unequal, stand up to the international bullies of today (the US, Russia, China et al), engender real local and regional political ownership (proportional representation, effective decentralisation of powers), deliver a practical Green future etc needs to go beyond just being able to say the right things to the camera. It needs a real plan to do these things and show that it is both deliverable and right.

The hope now before us is that Burnham can start to do that because if he can’t then dark years of Farage, Reform, far-right politics, ever-growing racism, Trump-washing and far greater inequality faces Britain.

Two years in Government (mainly) wasted - three years with new change and focus to forge new paths for the country and stop Farage and Reform inflicting a nightmare future.