I’ve been writing about Andy Burnham in Manchester for a while. We’ve had a few run-ins but I think he has qualities that many people don’t appreciate and weaknesses that spell trouble.
I wrote this for @ManchesterMill - I hope it’s insightful and fair.
https://t.co/Vh6P57t40G
Could an ex-philosopher be the new Burnham?
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🟣 New article in @ManchesterMill
This time with an interactive tool for the upcoming mayoral election
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Ofc, at this point in the campaign, 2nd preference flows are pretty much anyone's guess — so it's up to you!
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As Jen Williams writes in her excellent @FTMag profile: “It also feels disconcerting that, after a decade of covering Burnham, I am unsure what he might do in government.”
*Andy who?*
Britain is in decline, says @TheEconomist
Burnham brings hope - and skills Starmer does not have
He has some good ideas, and some worrying ones
Now he needs to rise to the moment (and face down his MPs)
Our leader this week: https://t.co/BU7o1vMzdc
Trump was asked what he knows about @AndyBurnhamGM - the man who is likely to be the next Prime Minister of the United Kingdom - and he said "I see that he was, I guess, the mayor of a town" ... insightful stuff, sir.
There are 206 casinos dotting London's high streets. That's four times the number of Greggs and twice the number of Nandos.
How did they get so big? And why can't councils do anything about them?
Read @AndrewKersley's investigation
https://t.co/lzkqIgEGsH
A chief of staff doesn’t need to be totally ideologically aligned with a leader. Many good ones haven’t been.
But they are gatekeepers to the person at the top, and this looks….extremely bad.
worth re-reading @joshi great piece on Burnhamism https://t.co/5895uuR3fY in the light of @JenWilliams_FT excellent read https://t.co/CVrkH96N7P because in the light of the CoS appntmnt you have to wonder that the risk is that in Downing St, narration will no longer be enough
@lara_spirit Funnily enough Burnham’s longtime CoS in Manchester, Kevin Lee, was also working in private advisory before joining Team Burnham many years ago - clients included United Utilities.
But back then Burnham wasn’t promising to dismantle rentier capitalism.
https://t.co/LJouOitV3d
If like me you’re a bit sceptical about Burnham’s heart being in his new “ending 40 years of neoliberalism” thing, appointing a big Blairite as CoS is another clue.
Burnham wants to bring utilities under “public control”. Purnell advises water/energy firms on “regulatory risk”.
EXCLUSIVE:
Andy Burnham is expected to appoint a former Blairite cabinet minister who is one of his oldest political allies as his chief of staff as he seeks to overhaul No 10
James Purnell, who served as pensions minister, culture secretary, and work and pensions secretary in the New Labour governments of Sir Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, is the frontrunner for the role, The Times has been told
He is said to be viewed by Burnham as a “serious figure” who is capable of implementing his radical plans to reform Downing Street and Whitehall
The pair, who entered parliament together in 2001, shared an office as novice Greater Manchester MPs, with Burnham representing Leigh and Purnell holding Stalybridge & Hyde
Burnham frequently joked that he was overlooked for broadcast interviews in favour of Purnell, who was educated in France and Surrey
Purnell is chief executive of Flint Global, a major PR and lobbying firm, a role that may present issues over potential conflicts of interest in government
https://t.co/e3qmp06x7W
In today’s State of It podcast, @lara_spirit says the unresolved chancellor pick “speaks to a big unanswered question” about the economic direction of a Burnham government.
If that’s still a question now, after years of wanting to be PM, it’s going to remain a question.
At the Institute for Government summer party where the talk here is that James Purnell could be Andy Burnham’s chief of staff….
… if he could accept the pay cut…